MODELS OF THE STABLE DUMBBELL-LIKE C-120 CLUSTER AND CRIMPED NANOTUBES CONSTRUCTED FROM C-60 FULLERENES

A new dumbbell-shaped structure of a C-60 fullerene dimer which is sub stantially advantageous from an energy point of view as compared to du mbbell-shaped C-120 clusters is proposed. The geometry and electronic structure of such a fullerene is calculated by the MM2, MNDO/PM3 and M NDO/AM1 methods. This dimer is shown to be approximately twice as stab le as known ones. The results obtained are applied to modeling a quasi one-dimensional crimped nanotube structure. The crystal orbital metho d has shown the crimped nanotube electron spectrum to have a gap equal to 0.5 eV.