The symmetry of the boron buckyball and a related boron nanotube

► As reported from density functional calculations the minimum energy structure of the boron fullerene is Th ► Extensive calculation using MP2 show that the boron fullerene ground state structure is Ih, the soccer ball symmetry ► Additional calculations using MP2 on a (5 0) boron nanotube also show that the central atom buckling does not exist ► This will have significant impact on the gap of the boron nano-tubes which will have an effect on the electronic properties (metal or semiconductor).