On the Reasons for the Formation and Stability of Single-Component Microcrystals of Electrolytic Origin with Fullerene-Like Truncated Icosahedral Habit

The formation of microcrystals with fullerene-like truncated icosahedral habit observed in experiments on the electrodeposition of copper has been explained. The analysis has been performed in terms of the behavior of the total energy upon the evolution of the truncated icosahedron to the regular icosahedron, and a significant role of the surface energy in this evolution has been indicated. Reasons have been presented for the st-ability of rare experimentally observed fullerene-like habit of single-component small particles and microcrystals.