Nanocapillarity in fullerene tubules

Abstract

Fullerene tubules are shown to be highly polarizable ``molecular straws'' capable of ingesting dipolar molecules. Local-density-functional calculations on HF molecules within a finite-length tubule, of size 144 atoms, demonstrate this effect. The energy of incarceration is several times the thermal ambient at room temperature. These calculations, now feasible on desktop workstations, open the way to the study of nanoscale capillarity and to, perhaps, precise control over shielding of specific ``guest'' compounds from external electric and magnetic fields.