Dimethyl ether in nanotubes: Structural variations and conformational preferences

Resumo

DFT quantum chemical calculations with the Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof (PBE) hybrid functional and triple-zeta (3ζ) basis set showed that the molecule of dimethyl ether encapsulated in model single-walled carbon nanotubes notably changes its structural and conformational parameters: the C–O bonds shorten, the COC bond angle increases, and new stable conformers nonexistent for the free ether appear. Decrease of the nanotube diameter is accompanied by increase of its force field effect on the encapsulated molecule.