Analysis and Characterization of C120O From nc60
Additional Funding Sources
This project was supported by funding from the National Science Foundation under the CAREER: Aqueous Fullerne Colloids Grant No. CHE-1522036.
Abstract
Aqueous colloids of buckminsterfullerene (nC60) display poor temperature stability for reasons that are currently unknown. This is crucial to nC60 research because by analyzing the aqueous system nC60 operates in, a better understanding of its debated environmental and biological impacts could be drawn. A possible cause of the instability is that the fullerene epoxide (C60O), the particle that stabilizes the colloids in suspension, might bond with other fullerenes or colloids to form a fullerene ether (C120O). That would then result in the colloid losing the oxygen atom and then falling out of suspension. C120O is not normally present in aqueous colloidal systems that are characterized through High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). C120O synthesis could be a result of the crashing out of colloids, which could be induced by increasing the temperature on the Rotary Evaporator machine to 50°C for all solvent removal steps in the previously studied solvent exchange methods. This could lead to a possible correlation between temperature increases above 50°C and amount of C120O synthesized. Solvent exchange and removal methods will be altered deliberately to have the colloids crash out, in order to see if C120O will synthesize. Current data appears to disconfirm C120O synthesis being the cause.
Analysis and Characterization of C120O From nc60
Aqueous colloids of buckminsterfullerene (nC60) display poor temperature stability for reasons that are currently unknown. This is crucial to nC60 research because by analyzing the aqueous system nC60 operates in, a better understanding of its debated environmental and biological impacts could be drawn. A possible cause of the instability is that the fullerene epoxide (C60O), the particle that stabilizes the colloids in suspension, might bond with other fullerenes or colloids to form a fullerene ether (C120O). That would then result in the colloid losing the oxygen atom and then falling out of suspension. C120O is not normally present in aqueous colloidal systems that are characterized through High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). C120O synthesis could be a result of the crashing out of colloids, which could be induced by increasing the temperature on the Rotary Evaporator machine to 50°C for all solvent removal steps in the previously studied solvent exchange methods. This could lead to a possible correlation between temperature increases above 50°C and amount of C120O synthesized. Solvent exchange and removal methods will be altered deliberately to have the colloids crash out, in order to see if C120O will synthesize. Current data appears to disconfirm C120O synthesis being the cause.
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