On the compressibility of C60 individual molecules

Theoretical studies have estimated the bulk modulus of individual C60 molecules to be twice to three times as stiff as diamond. In this Letter, we investigate, for the first time, solvent effects on the compressibility of individual fullerene molecules using molecular dynamic simulation. Interaction with water and methanol was found to significantly affect the fullerene P–V EOS leading to significantly less compressible fullerene molecule. This study sheds important lights on the fact that the compressibility of fullerene molecules cannot be considered out of context of their chemical environment.