title: Evidence of hollow golden cages.
abstract: The fullerenes are the first "free-standing" elemental hollow cages identified by spectroscopy experiments and synthesized in the bulk. Here, we report experimental and theoretical evidence of hollow cages consisting of pure metal atoms, Au(n)(-) (n = 16-18); to our knowledge, free-standing metal hollow cages have not been previously detected in the laboratory. These hollow golden cages ("bucky gold") have an average diameter >5.5 A, which can easily accommodate one guest atom inside.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for Materials and Nanoscience, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.
authors.forename: Satya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bulusu
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Lai-Sheng
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xiao Cheng
authors.initials: XC
authors.lastname: Zeng