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C60

Fullerenes are carbon allotropes composed of fused rings of carbon atoms, with buckminsterfullerene (C60) being the most well-known, discovered in 1985. They can be synthesized through various methods, including laser vaporization and electric arc heating, and exhibit unique properties such as hydrophobicity and potential superconductivity. Fullerenes have diverse applications, particularly in medicine as drug carriers and in electronics for solar cells and sensors.

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25 views7 pages

C60

Fullerenes are carbon allotropes composed of fused rings of carbon atoms, with buckminsterfullerene (C60) being the most well-known, discovered in 1985. They can be synthesized through various methods, including laser vaporization and electric arc heating, and exhibit unique properties such as hydrophobicity and potential superconductivity. Fullerenes have diverse applications, particularly in medicine as drug carriers and in electronics for solar cells and sensors.

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Gayathri . H
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CARBON NANOMATERIALS - FULLERENE

❑ A fullerene is an allotrope of carbon that consists of fused rings of five to seven carbon atoms.
❑ Kroto, Curl and Smalley in 1996 were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their roles in the discovery of
buckminsterfullerene or buckyball {C60 } and the related class of fullerenes.
❑ The structure of buckminsterfullerene is a truncated icosahedron and consists of 60 carbon atoms, which are
arranged in 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons and have a close resemblance to the soccer ball configuration.
❑ The first fullerene was discovered in 1985 when scientists used a laser to vaporize graphite rods in an
atmosphere of helium gas. The process yielded a group of Cage-like molecules.
❑ After fullerenes were discovered, Kroto in 1987 proposed first the isolated-pentagon rule (IPR) : the most
stable fullerenes are those in which no two pentagons share an edge, that is, each pentagon is surrounded by
hexagons. For C60 and C70 only one isomer is stable is formed. The smallest member of the fullerene group is

C20 which consists of 12 pentagonal faces.


SYNTHESIS OF FULLERENE
❑ The synthesis of fullerene can be carried out by one of the following methods: (1) laser vaporization of carbon,
(2) electric arc heating of graphite, (3) resistive arc heating of graphite, (4) laser irradiation of polycyclic
hydrocarbons.
1. Laser Vaporization of Carbon:
Fullerenes are produced in a supersonic expansion nozzle by a pulsed laser, focused on a graphite target in
an inert atmosphere (helium). This process involves the vaporization of carbon from a rotating solid disc of
graphite.
3. Resistive arc Heating of Graphite:
Evaporization of carbon rods via resistive heating of carbon rods under a partial He atmosphere; which causes
the rod to emit a faint grey-white plume, a soot-like substance made up of fullerenes and is collected on glass
shields.
4. Laser Irradiation of Polycyclic Hydrocarbons (PAHs):
Direct synthesis of fullerenes based on polycyclic aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) that already have the
required carbon frameworks. The PAH molecules which consist of 60 carbon atoms are "rolled up" to form
fullerenes under flash vacuum pyrolysis (FVP) conditions when it is laser irradiated at 337mn wavelength.
PROPERTIES OF FULLERENE
❖ There are 20 hexagonal faces and 12 pentagonal faces in each C60 molecule,

which has a molecule diameter of 7.10Å with fcc [ Face centred cubic]

symmetry structure.

❖ There are two types of bonds in a C60 fullerene namely; a bond shared

between a hexagon and pentagon (6.5) which behaves like a single bond and

that which is shared between two hexagons (6.6) which behaves like a double

bond, these bonds coats the whole surface of any fullerenes with a system of

conjugated double bonds.

❖ The overall hybridization state of carbon in fullerene is sp2 in which each

carbon atom forms three sigma bonds with three other adjacent carbon
PROPERTIES OF FULLERENE
❖ The average nearest neighbour C-C distance in C60 (1.44 Å is almost identical to that in graphite (1.42 Å). Each

carbon atom in C60 is trigonally bonded to other carbon atoms, the same as in graphite.
❖ Under pressure, fullerene becomes stronger than diamonds. The melting point of fullerene is 600°C.
❖ Due to its hydrophobic nature, fullerenes are the only known allotrope of carbon that can be dissolved in
common organic solvents at room temperature.
❖ Fullerenes are normally electrical insulators, but when crystallized with alkali metals, the resultant compound
can be conducting or even superconducting.
❖ Fullerene forms endohedral, in which an atom (usually a metal) is inserted inside a fullerene “cage.” Due to their
ability to enclose atoms, fullerenes exhibit great promise in medical applications especially in medical imaging
and as drug carriers.
❖ The high electron affinity and great ability of fullerenes to transport charge make them well-suited for a variety of
electrical applications, such as in solar cells and molecular wires.
APPLICATIONS OF FULLERENE
1. MEDICAL APPLICATION :
⮚ Despite solubility challenges their exceptional carbon cage structure and range
of functionalization make fullerenes stand as potential therapeutic agents.
⮚ Potential drug carriers for cellular delivery because of their good
biocompatibility, selective targeted delivery and controlled release of carried
drugs.
⮚ The biocidal activity is mostly attributed to its ability to generate reactive
oxygen species (ROS) such as singlet oxygen and superoxide through
photosensitization when it interacts with organic solvents.
⮚ Fulleropyrolidines bearing two amino groups were active against HIV - I and
HIV – 2. Endohedral metallofullerene (EMF) is a potent MRI diagnostic agent
for the treatment of bone cancer and leukaemia.
APPLICATIONS OF FULLERENE
⮚ Excellent electron-accepting capacity, combined with suitable electron donor components to form donor-
acceptor (D-A), fullerenes are useful in photoelectric devices, electrochemical materials, doping impurity for
conductive polymer films, gas sensors and superconductors.
⮚ Effective production of ROS by photosynthetic functionalizing C60 with hydrophilic moieties can be helpful for
water purification and environmental applications.
⮚ Hydrogenation of their C-C bonds to form C-H bonds which possess lower bond energies therefore able to
retain a maximum of 6.1% of hydrogen for storage.
⮚ Hybrid nanomaterials especially with the graphene, generate synergistic and more exciting performance as
electrode materials for supercapacitors.
⮚ Hydrogenated fullerenes as additives to commercial graphite resulted in the reduction of the irreversible
capacity of Li-ion batteries.

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