A Theoretical Study on a Fullerene Doped With Si and N Atoms

Fullerene chemistry has provided a new dimension of aromatic and a new platform for discussion of mathematical techniques pertinent to large cages. Experimental studies on fullerene cages are on considerable increase in recent years. Carbon can be in several forms, amorphous, graphite and diamond. Fullerenes are accepted as the fourth form of solid carbon. They are basically, large carbon cage molecules. By far the most common one is C60. Since the discovery of fullerenes in mid eighties and nanotubes in nineties, a whole range of studies have been conducted on these particles[1-8]. the smallest fullerene C20 is of particular interests because of the extreme curvature and reactivity. It has been recently synthesized in a gas phase by Horst Prinzbach et al. and further confirmed theoretically by Mineo Satio et al. It is only composed of pentagons. Each carbon atom in a C20 cage is bonded to three others with a bond angle of 108°, which is close to the tetrahedral bond angle. There have been many theoretical studies on the vibrational and electronic properties of the C20 cluster [9-12].