Modeling fullerene growth by fusion reactions of cupola half-fullerenes: Δn=16 series

Fusion reactions of cupola half-fullerenes C22, C24, C32, C40 and C48 with each other are considered on the basis of Arrhenius’s postulate. It means that at first there forms an intermediate compound and only afterwards a usual chemical reaction is going on. The final structure of fullerenes is obtained with the help of geometric modeling and is optimized through the use of Avogadro package. In general, the fullerenes which tend to take the appearance of a perfect spheroid have lesser formation energy. The energy of nanotubes and fullerenes C44, C48, C64, C80 and C96 obtained is calculated.