Formation and atomic structure of B₁₂N₁₂nanocage clusters studied by mass spectrometry and cluster calculation

Abstract

Boron nitride (BN) nanocage clusters of B12N12 were synthesized, and detected by laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The B12N12 clusters consisted of 4- and 6-membered BN rings satisfying the isolated tetragonal rule, which was optimized by molecular orbital calculations. The electronic structure showed a bandgap energy of 5.1 eV, which is a little smaller than that of B36N36 cluster.