PRODUCTION AND APPLICATIONS OF HIGHER FULLERENES

WHILE THE RECENT DISCOVERY OF FULLERENE CARBON HAS LED TO INTENSE RESEARCH ACTIVITY AND MANY PROPOSED APPLICATIONS, MOST OF THE WORK TO DATE HAS FOCUSED ON C60, AND TO A LESSER EXTENT, C70. THE HIGHER FULLERENES (C76, C78, C84, ETC.), WHICH MAY HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT AND USEFUL PROPERTIES, HAVE NOT BEEN EVALUATED BECAUSE THEY ARE DIFFICULT TO OBTAIN IN PURIFIED FORM. RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING IMPROVED ROUTES TO THE HIGHER FULLERENES AND INVESTIGATING THEIR POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS. THEY ARE OPTIMIZING THE COMBUSTION SYNTHESIS PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF HIGHER FULLERENES. THE HIGHER FULLERENES ARE BEING PURIFIED BY HIGH-PRESSURE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY (HPLC). TO MINIMIZE THE COST OF HIGHER FULLERENES IN FUTURE APPLICATIONS, SEVERAL DIFFERENT SEPARATION METHODS WHICH DO NOT INVOLVE CHROMATOGRAPHY HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED. USING THE PURE MATERIALS FROM CHROMATOGRAPHY, FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTIES OF THE HIGHER FULLERENES WHICH ARE RELEVANT TO THE SEPARATION METHODS ARE BEING MEASURED.