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Updated: Aug 4, 2026

Synthesis and Functionalization of Nitrogen-doped Carbon Nanotube Cups with Gold Nanoparticles as Cork Stoppers
Published on: May 13, 2013
Using cyanide to put noble gases inside C60
R J Cross1, A Khong, M Saunders
1Yale Chemistry Department, P.O. Box 208107, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, USA. james.cross@yale.edu
Abstract:
After fullerenes are heated in the presence of a noble gas or an unreactive molecule at 650 degrees C and 3000 atm pressure, a small fraction of the fullerene molecules contain the atom or molecule. The incorporation fraction is greatly enhanced by adding potassium cyanide to the reaction mixture. The details of the preparation are described here.
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The elements in group 18 are noble gases (helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon). They earned the name “noble” because they were assumed to be nonreactive since they have filled valence shells. In 1962, Dr. Neil Bartlett at the University of British Columbia proved this assumption to be false.
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