We outline the scrutiny of the two probe devices formed by placing the nonclassical fullerene molecules CM (20 ≤ M ≤ 30) within semi-infinite gold electrodes using density functional theory. The electronic structure and molecular orbitals of isolated fullerene molecules are broadened to form junction devices with charge injection at zero as well as variegated bias respectively. The molecular junctions thus formed are contemplated for two important electrical constitutions, current, and conductance. These parameters are then elaborated and contemplated for their electronic parameters namely, the density of states, transmission coefficient, molecular orbitals, molecular projected self-consistent Hamiltonian states, electron density, and Mulliken population. We conclude that C20 and C24 fullerene molecule exhibits extremely metallic behavior while others fail to demonstrate such behavior. The molecular device, thus formed, strongly supports the superconductive behavior of the C24 molecule with an ability to easily adapt by modulating its active molecular orbitals under applied potential.

The ORGANIC experiment on EXPOSE-R spent 682 days outside the International Space Station, providing continuous exposure to the cosmic-, solar- and trapped-particle radiation background for fourteen samples: 11 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and three fullerenes. The thin films of the ORGANIC experiment received, during space exposure, an irradiation dose of the order of 14 000 MJ m−2 over 2900 h of unshadowed solar illumination. Extensive analyses were performed on the returned samples and the results compared to ground control measurements. Analytical studies of the returned samples included spectral measurements from the vacuum ultraviolet to the infrared range and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. Limited spectral changes were observed in most cases pointing to the stability of PAHs and fullerenes under space exposure conditions. Furthermore, the results of these experiments confirm the known trend in the stability of PAH species according to molecular structure: compact PAHs are more stable than non-compact PAHs, which are themselves more stable than PAHs containing heteroatoms, the last category being the most prone to degradation in the space environment. We estimate a depletion rate of the order of 85 ± 5% over the 17 equivalent weeks of continuous unshadowed solar exposure in the most extreme case tetracene (smallest, non-compact PAH sample). The insignificant spectral changes (below 10%) measured for solid films of large or compact PAHs and fullerenes indicate a high stability under the range of space exposure conditions investigated on EXPOSE-R.

In the early 90's, C60+ was proposed as the carrier of two diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) at 9577 and 9632 Å, but a firm identification still awaits gas-phase spectroscopic data. Neutral C60, on the other hand, was recently detected through its infrared emission bands in the interstellar medium and evolved stars. In this contribution, we present the detection of C60+ through its infrared vibrational bands in the NGC 7023 nebula, based on spectroscopic observations with the Spitzer space telescope, quantum chemistry calculation, and laboratory data from the literature. This detection supports the idea that C60+ could be a DIB carrier, and provides robust evidence that fullerenes exist in the gas-phase in the interstellar medium. Modeling efforts to design specific observations, combined with new gas-phase data, will be essential to confirm this proposal. A definitive attribution of the 9577 and 9632 Å DIBs to C60+ would represent a significant step forward in the field.

The status of DIB research (Herbig 1995) has strongly advanced since the DIB conference in Boulder in 1994. In the same year we reported the discovery of two near IR diffuse bands coincident with C60+, that was confirmed in subsequent years. Since then a number of DIB observational studies have been published such as DIB surveys, measurements of DIB families, correlations and environment dependences as well as DIBs in extra-galactic sources. Resolved substructures were measured and compared to predicted rotational contours of large molecules. Polarisation studies provided constraints on possible carrier molecules and upper limits. DIBs carriers have been linked with several classes of organic molecules observed in the interstellar medium, in particular to the UIR bands (assigned to PAHs), the Extended Red Emission (ERE) or the recently detected Anomalous Microwave Emission (AME, assigned to spinning dust). In particular fullerenes and PAHs have been proposed to explain some DIBs and specific molecules were searched for in DIB spectra. DIB carriers could be present in various dehydrogenation and ionization states. Experiments in the laboratory and in space contribute to our understanding of the photo-stability of possible DIB carriers. In summary, the status of DIB research in the last 20 years has strongly advanced. We review DIB observational results and their interpretation and introduce the relevant plenary discussion.

The formation pathway to double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs) from C60 encased within single-walled carbon nanotubes (peapods) is introduced in this article. Onedimensionally arranged C60 molecules coalesce gradually within the nanotube and change the structure to C60 dimers, trimers, tetramers, and so on as intermediates. In addition to these interesting structural transformations visualized in the nanotube space, the nanotube itself is very stable, and this structural stability is very important when using the interior of the nanotube as the reaction field or the space for molecular storage. In terms of optical absorption, the lowest energy absorption band for DWNTs, ∼0.65 eV, shows broadened and downshifted features as compared with that of SWNTs.We expect that this opticalabsorption feature will lead to the use of DWNTs in absorbing devices for optical-fiber communications. The Raman experiments give new information about the frequency of the C-C stretching-mode vibration for nanotubes with diameters of less than ∼1 nm, which shows a decrease in vibration frequency with decreasing tube diameter. This diameter dependence can be explained by an admixture of sp3 character in the C-C interaction. Therefore, the electronic and mechanical properties of nanotubes with diameters of <1 nm are expected to be different from nanotubes of the ∼1-nm-diameter class, and we anticipate that new phenomena will occur in small-diameter tubes.

The imaging and characterization of individual molecules and atomically thin, effectively one-dimensional crystals of rock salt and other halides encapsulated within single-walled carbon nanotubes are reviewed in this article. These species were imaged by conventional and super-resolved high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and by scanning tunneling microscopy, revealing the detailed atomic structure of these nanoscopic species.

If the discoveries of C60 and C70 fullerenes in terrestrial hard rocks are real, then some of these may have formed in the solid state by dehydrogenation-driven ‘zip-up’ of C60Hn and C70Hm progenitors. At three sites of such fullerene discoveries the building blocks for these large molecules may have come from algal remains.