The heat of sublimation of the endohedral metallofullerene Er3N@C80 was measured via Knudsen effusion mass spectrometry. The large molecule consists of a C80 fullerene cage which is stabilized by comprising a complex of three erbium atoms bounded to a nitrogen atom and has a mass of 1475 amu. The mass spectrum at a temperature of 1045 K and the relative intensities of the thermal fractions of Er3N@C80 are provided. We also discuss possible thermal decomposition processes for these particles. By measuring the quantity of evaporated molecules in thermal equilibrium through a quadrupole mass spectrometer in a temperature range between 782 K and 1128 K, a value for the sublimation enthalpy of Hsub = 237 +-7 kJ/mol is obtained from the second law method.
@article{arxiv.0912.3704,
title = {Sublimation of the Endohedral Fullerene Er3N@C80},
author = {Alexander Stibor and Hannah Schefzyk and József Fortágh},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0912.3704},
year = {2014}
}