Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Simultaneous Synthesis of Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene in a Magnetically-enhanced Arc Plasma
Published on: February 2, 2012
Dynamics of paramagnetic metallofullerenes in carbon nanotube peapods
Jamie H Warner1, Andrew A R Watt, Ling Ge
1Department of Materials, Quantum Information Processing Interdisciplinary Research Center, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PH, United Kingdom. Jamie.warner@materials.ox.ac.uk
Abstract:
We filled SWNTs with the paramagnetic fullerene Sc@C82 to form peapods. The interfullerene 1D packing distance measured using TEM is d = 1.1 +/- 0.02 nm. The Sc@C82 in SWNT peapods continuously rotated during the 2 s TEM exposure time, and we did not see the Sc atoms. However, Sc@C82 metallofullerenes in MWNT peapods have periods of fixed orientation, indicated by the brief observation of Sc atoms. La@C82 peapods were also prepared and their rotational behavior examined. The interfullerene 1D packing of both La@C82 and Sc@C82 peapods is identical and thus independent of the charge transfer state for these paramagnetic fullerenes. The La@C82 metallofullerenes in the peapods have fixed orientations for extended periods of time, up to 50 s in some cases. The La@C82 spontaneously rotates rapidly between fixed orientations.
Related Concept Videos
Paramagnetism
Valence Bond Theory
Ferromagnetism

