Mesoscopic origami with graphite:: scrolls, nanotubes, peapods

This contribution describes the morphology and energetic stability of different types of nanostructured carbon, including fullerenes, nanotubes, scrolls, peapods, and more complex foams. When structurally perfect, these systems are very stable even under extreme conditions. Specific structural defects offer an unusual, energetically accessible path to an inter-conversion between different isomers. More complex systems follow a hierarchical self-assembly formation process. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.