Study on structure of heat-treated fullerene nanowhiskers and their field electron emission characteristics

Spatially Confined Growth of Fullerene to Super-Long Crystalline Fibers in Supramolecular Gels for High-Performance Photodetector

As a superstar organic semiconductor, fullerene (C₆₀ ) is versatile in nature for its multiple photoelectric applications. However, owing to its natural 0D structure, a challenge still remains unbeaten as to growth of 1D fullerene crystals with tunable sizes. Herein, reported is an efficient approach to grow C₆₀ as super-long crystalline fibers with tunable lengths and diameters in supramolecular gel by synergic changes of anti-solvent, gel length, crystallization time or fullerene concentration. As a result, the crystalline C₆₀ fibers can be modulated to as long as 70 mm and 70 000 in their length-to-width ratio. In this case, the gel 3D network provides spatial confinements for the growth of 1D crystal along the directional dispersion of anti-solvent. The fabricated fullerene device exhibits high responsivity (2595.6 mA W^-1 ) and high specific detectivity (2.7 × 10¹² Jones) at 10 V bias upon irradiation of 400 nm incident light. The on/off ratio and its quantum efficiency are near to 540 and about 800%, respectively, and importantly, its photoelectric property remains very stable after storage in air for six months. Therefore, spatially confined growth of fullerene in supramolecular gels will be another crucial strategy to synthesize 1D semiconductor crystals for photoelectrical device applications in near future.

Synthesis of fullerene nanowhiskers using the liquid-liquid interfacial precipitation method and their mechanical, electrical and superconducting properties

Fullerene nanowhiskers (FNWs) are thin crystalline fibers composed of fullerene molecules, including C60, C70, endohedral, or functionalized fullerenes. FNWs display n-type semiconducting behavior and are used in a diverse range of applications, including field-effect transistors, solar cells, chemical sensors, and photocatalysts. Alkali metal-doped C60 (fullerene) nanowhiskers (C60NWs) exhibit superconducting behavior. Potassium-doped C60NWs have realized the highest superconducting volume fraction of the alkali metal-doped C60 crystals and display a high critical current density (Jc) under a high magnetic field of 50 kOe. The growth control of FNWs is important for their success in practical applications. This paper reviews recent FNWs research focusing on their mechanical, electrical and superconducting properties and growth mechanisms in the liquid-liquid interfacial precipitation method.

Nanoporous carbon tubes from fullerene crystals as the π-electron carbon source

Here we report the thermal conversion of one-dimensional (1D) fullerene (C60) single-crystal nanorods and nanotubes to nanoporous carbon materials with retention of the initial 1D morphology. The 1D C60 crystals are heated directly at very high temperature (up to 2000 °C) in vacuum, yielding a new family of nanoporous carbons having π-electron conjugation within the sp(2)-carbon robust frameworks. These new nanoporous carbon materials show excellent electrochemical capacitance and superior sensing properties for aromatic compounds compared to commercial activated carbons.