SIMULTANEOUS DETERMINATION OF C₆₀ AND C₇₀ FULLERENES BY A SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC METHOD

Abstract

In all fullerene-producing systems, reaction products were black soot extracts reported to contain a 5–25% fullerene mixture. Toluene extraction of the soot results in a solution of C₆₀, C₇₀, and higherc fullerenes. Without separation, absolute determination of the contents is not possible, leaving the researcher to comment only on the C₆₀/C₇₀ ratio of the solution. High-performance liquid chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance, and scanning tunneling microscopy imaging techniques were reported in the literature for determining the C₆₀/C₇₀ ratio of the mixtures. These methods require tedious experiments and produce slightly differing results as well. In this communication, a new and relatively quick method is proposed for the simultaneous determination of the yields of C₆₀ and C₇₀ (not the ratio) in fullerene-containing solutions by ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometric analysis.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was supported by The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey, Grant No. MISAG-102. We are also most grateful to David Box of Dynamic Enterprises Ltd Co (Berkshire, UK) for donating pure C₇₀ to us.