Extensive Ozonation of C₆₀: Degradation or Polymerization?

Abstract

The impact of the oxidizing agent ozone (O₃) on the structure of the most common spherical allotrope of carbon, buckminsterfullerene (C₆₀) is studied. Past studies measured ozonation of C₆₀ over short periods of time. In this study, we establish that C₆₀ is completely degraded, not polymerized, during ozonation. The techniques, laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometry, UV/Vis absorbance spectroscopy, and FT-Raman are used to study the molecular degradation of the spherical allotrope C₆₀ by O₃.

Keywords:

• Ozone
• Fullerene
• Oxidation
• Mass Spectrometry
• Raman Spectroscopy

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation – Nanotechnology in Undergraduate Education (NSF-NUE) program to Valdosta State University. We would also like to thank Valdosta State University for equipment (FT-Raman, FT-IR, etc.) and lab space. The LD-RTOF measurements at the University of Georgia were supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (grant F49620-00-1-0118).