The assembly of molecules to form covalent networks can create varied lattice structures. They have physical and chemical properties distinct from those of conventional atomic lattices. Recent synthesis of monolayer fullerene networks [1] provides new avenues to design materials using molecular building blocks with tuneable and tailored function. Using first-principles calculations, I will show our recent works on
predicting: (1) Conflicting stability of different phases of monolayer polymeric C60 [2]; (2) Tailored function [3] through tuneable crystal structures [4-7]; (3) Versatile fullerenebased quantum platforms such as the most accurate timekeeping and the most efficient
computing. The first two predictions have been confirmed experimentally [8,9].

References:

[1] Hou, et al. Nature 606 507 (2022).
[2] Peng*. Nano Letters 23, 652 (2023).
[3] Peng*. Journal of the American Chemical Society 144, 19921 (2022).
[4] Jones & Peng*. Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 14, 11768 (2023).
[5] Wu & Peng*. Journal of the American Chemical Society 147, 1749 (2025).
[6] Shearsby, Wu, Yang & Peng*. Nanoscale 17, 2616 (2025).
[7] Kayley & Peng*. arXiv:2501.01494.
[8] Meirzadeh, et al. Nature 613, 71 (2023).
[9] Wang, et al. Angewandte Chemie 62, e202311352 (2023).