Clusters of Fullerenes: Structures and Dynamics

The geometric structures and reaction dynamics of clusters of carbon fullerene molecules are reviewed. The topics on structure cover the elementary building blocks, the interatomic and intermolecular potentials, and the geometric structures of the aggregates. The dynamics part describes the time development after excitation with laser light, in bimolecular collisions, and in collisions with high energy atomic ions. These reactions produce singly or multiply charged clusters, fragmented or intact fullerene monomers, and fusion products. The duration of the interaction time and the transferred energy are found to play determining roles for the nature of the products. Short interaction times and high energy excitation favor intramolecular reactions on excited potential energy surfaces, producing fused products, often with a strong release of the combined excess energy and heat of fusion. Clusters excited at low energies tend to disintegrate into intact fullerene molecules.