G. Oszlanyi et al., MECHANICALLY INDUCED CHEMICAL DECOMPOSITION OF C-60-N-PENTANE CLATHRATE AT ROOM-TEMPERATURE, Physical review. B, Condensed matter, 48(10), 1993, pp. 7682-7684
We report the mechanically induced chemical decomposition of C60-n-pen
tane. This material is a typical C60 clathrate with a well-characteriz
ed structure and is stable up to 400 K. However, at room temperature t
he grinding of C60-n-pentane induces the loss of n-pentane from the or
iginally orthorhombic structure and the material transforms to pure C6
0 with the face-centered-cubic structure. The average crystallite size
of the final powder is quite small, from x-ray powder diffraction pea
k widths it is estimated to be 150 angstrom. This unusual chemical dec
omposition at room temperature points to the highly strained nature of
the structure. Similar chemical decomposition might exist for other C
60 clathrates such as C60 acetone.