Morphology Engineering of Fullerene (C60) Microstructures Featuring Surface Cracks with Enhanced Photoluminescence and Microscopic Recognition Properties
Ning Chen, Yanglin Shen, Ting Xu, Wangqiang Shen, Xing Lu*
Chem. Eur. J. 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202103123
Abstract
Surface cracks could improve the optical and photoelectronic properties of crystalline materials as they increase specific surface area, but the controlled self-assembly of fullerene (C60) molecules into micro-/nanostructures with surface cracks is still challenging. Herein, we report the morphology engineering of novel C60microstructures bearing surface cracks for the first time, selecting phenetole and propan-1-ol (NPA) as good and poor solvents, respectively. Our systematic investigations reveal that phenetole molecules initially participate in the formation of the ends of the C60microstructures, and then NPA molecules are involved in the gradual growth of the sidewalls of the microstructures. Therefore, the surface cracks of C60microstructures can be finely regulated by adjusting the addition of NPA and the crystallization time. Interestingly, the cracked C60microstructures show superior photoluminescence properties relative to the smooth microstructures due to the increased specific surface area. In addition, C60microstructures with wide cracks show preferential recognition of silica particles over C60particles owing to electrostatic interactions between the negatively charged C60microstructures and the positively charged silica microparticles. These C60crystals with surface cracks have potential applications from optoelectronics to biology.
