We describe the self-assembly of soluble, chemically modified fullerene [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) into a new crystalline phase where the C60 moieties are arranged in parallel layers. Minimum C60 center-to-center distance is 10 Å within the layers, and up to 15 Å perpendicular to the layers. Highly anisotropic, mesoscopic hexagonal crystals of this material, with a lateral size of many microns and a thickness below 1 μm, are obtained from chloroform solution by solvent vapor annealing, and characterized by optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The crystalline structure is deduced combining experimental data with molecular modeling and ab initio calculations. The large difference in C60–C60 spacing indicates a high anisotropy in electrical and charge transport properties of this new phase.

Anisotropic molecular packing of soluble C60 fullerenes in hexagonal nanocrystals obtained by solvent vapor annealing

COLLE, RENATO;RONZANI, ALBERTO;
2012

Abstract

We describe the self-assembly of soluble, chemically modified fullerene [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) into a new crystalline phase where the C60 moieties are arranged in parallel layers. Minimum C60 center-to-center distance is 10 Å within the layers, and up to 15 Å perpendicular to the layers. Highly anisotropic, mesoscopic hexagonal crystals of this material, with a lateral size of many microns and a thickness below 1 μm, are obtained from chloroform solution by solvent vapor annealing, and characterized by optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The crystalline structure is deduced combining experimental data with molecular modeling and ab initio calculations. The large difference in C60–C60 spacing indicates a high anisotropy in electrical and charge transport properties of this new phase.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11384/12417
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