LaI2@(18,3)SWNT: the crystallisation behaviour of a LaI2 fragment, confined within a single-walled carbon nanotube

The encapsulation of the simple binary compound Lab within the inner cylindrical bore of a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) yielded an unprecedented structure of LaI2. The filling material was encapsulated within SWNTs by heating bulk LaI3 in vacuo in the presence of SWNTs. The obtained encapsulation composite was analysed using energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX) and focal series restoration approaches of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images, to reveal a one-dimensional LaI2 fragment, 'crystallising' in the structure of Lab with 1/3 of the iodine positions unoccupied, whilst simultaneously identifying the chirality of the surrounding SWNT.