Grant for Exploratory Research: High Translational Energy Collisions between Beams of C60 and Stable Molecules

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With this Grant for Exploratory Research from the Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Professor Davis will study the dissociation and addition reactions of C60, called buckminsterfullerene or fullerite, accelerated to high relative translational energies in a crossed supersonic beam apparatus. The dynamics of C60 by itself, in a Van der Waals cluster, or with adsorbed metal atoms will be studied for the effects that substituents produce. Collisions with different target molecules will also be investigated. %%% Since the discovery of the molecule C60 (buckminsterfullerene or fullerite), chemists have wondered about the physical and chemical properties of this soccer ball-shaped molecule, since, because of its high symmetry, it is expected to be unusually stable with respect to chemical reaction. A recently disclosed method for making large quantities of C60 allows this unique species to be studied by a wide variety of techniques. This current study will help to answer a large number of questions about the properties of fullerite in particular and will help form a basis for understanding fullerenes in general.