Periodic Nanostructures book cumulates the knowledge about the periodicity in various nanostructures. The text covers the coalescence reactions, and shows that the nanoworld is continuous, giving rise to zero- (fullerenes), one- (tubules), two-(graphite) and three-(diamond, spongy carbon) dimensional carbon allotropes.
Exploring of foam-like carbon structures, related to ‘schwarzites’, which represent infinite periodic minimal surfaces of negative curvature shows that these structures contain polygons (with dimensions larger than hexagons w.r.t. to graphite) that induce this negative curvature. The units of these structures appear as nanotube junctions (produced via an electron beam) that have wide potential molecular electronics applications.
The text provides literature and data on nanostructure periodicity and own results on nanostructure building and energy calculations as well as topological characterization by means of counting polynomials of periodic nanostructures. The aromaticity of various coverings of graphitic structures is also discussed using this approach.
Self-assembled supramolecular structures (of various tessellation) and diamond architectures are treated. The authors propose that the periodicity of close repeat units of such structures is most evident not only in these formations but also present in all of the carbon allotropes. It is shown that depending on the lattice tessellation, heteroatom type, and/or doping, metal nanostructures (nanotubes in particular) can display both metallic and semiconductor characteristics. Therefore, their properties can be controlled via chemical design. The authors therefore suggest that nanostructures have heralded a new generation of nanoscale biological, chemical, and physical devices. | 
