ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the structure and electrical, mechanical, and optical properties of isolated fullerene nanowhiskers and related carbon nanomaterials, that is, carbon nanocapsules, which are interpreted as giant single- and multi-walled fullerenes, studied by in situ high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It explains the methodology, followed by examples of in situ observation for each subject, that is, the structure and elastic properties of fullerene nanowhiskers, the formation, luminescence, conductance, and deformation of carbon nanocapsules. The described TEM was developed on the basis of in situ high-resolution TEM combined with subnanonewton force measurements used in atomic force microscopy and electric conductance measurements used in scanning tunneling microscopy. The structure and electrical, mechanical, and optical properties of C60 fullerene nanowhiskers can be investigated on the basis of individual observation and measurements. Carbon nanocapsules were successfully synthesized by the electrical contact method in a series of experiments.
