A LOW COST PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURE OF FULLERENES

THE RECENTLY DISCOVERED MATERIALS KNOWN GENERICALLY AS FULLERENES HAVE UNIQUE CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES THAT HAVE GENERATED GREAT INTEREST IN THE SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL RESEARCH COMMUNITIES. SEVERAL APPLICATIONS HAVE BEEN PROPOSED FOR THESE MATERIALS, SUCH AS SUPERCONDUCTORS, NUCLEATION OF DIAMOND FILMS, NONLINEAR OPTICAL MATERIALS, AND CATALYSTS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS FOR THESE MATERIALS REQUIRES THAT THEY BE READILY AVAILABLE AT A REASONABLE PRICE. THE CURRENTLY USED ARC PROCESS CANNOT SATISFY THESE REQUIREMENTS. A NEW PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF FULLERENES IS BEING EXPLORED. THIS CONTINUOUS PROCESS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SUBSTANTIALLY INCREASE THE PRODUCTION RATES AND LOWER THE PRODUCTION COSTS OF FULLERENES. PHASE I IS ASSESSING THE COMMERCIAL VIABILITY OF THIS PROCESS BY EXPERIMENTALLY DETERMINING PRODUCTION RATES AND OPERATING COSTS OVER A RANGE OF OPERATING VARIABLES.