Smallest fullerene-like silicon cage stabilized by a V(2) unit

J Chem Phys. 2014 Jan 14;140(2):024308. doi: 10.1063/1.4861053.

Abstract

We conducted a combined anion photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory study on V2Si20 cluster. Our results show that the V2Si20 cluster has an elongated dodecahedron cage structure with a V2 unit encapsulated inside the cage. It is the smallest fullerene-like silicon cage and can be used as building block to make cluster-assembled materials, such as pearl-chain style nanowires.