High-temperature phase diagram of the fullereneC60

Abstract

A density-functional approximation is used to study the high-temperature phase diagram of a system of fullerene ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ molecules which are considered as rigid spheres interacting via the Girifalco [J. Phys. Chem. 96, 858 (1992)] potential. We discuss the theoretical predictions together with the contradictory results given by computer simulations on the existence of a conventional liquid phase for the fullerene ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$. Theory cannot definitively settle this point but the predictions for the melting and freezing lines are in quite good quantitative agreement with simulations results.