Tunable viscoelasticity of bulk fullerene network via high-temperature annealing

Although the experimental transformation of C₆₀ bulk into various functional carbon materials at a certain temperature and pressure has been extensively explored, the understanding of the structural transformation mechanisms and the energy dissipation mechanisms of the derived topologies at the atomic scale is still poor. By using the molecular dynamics (MD) simulations method, the structural transformation of C₆₀ bulk to various carbon materials is studied. Besides, the mechanisms of energy dissipation of three typical structures are revealed and the effects of loading frequency, temperature, loading amplitude, and pre-strain on the storage, loss modulus, and dumping ratio of three typical structures were investigated by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The results show that due to the difference in structural morphology and mechanical behaviors under cyclic loading, three typical structures show different viscoelastic mechanical properties which could also be tuned by changing related parameters. This work systematically investigates the viscoelastic mechanical properties of bulk fullerene network during different annealing processes and corresponding energy dissipation mechanisms and provides important references for further design and application.