Low Temperature Templated Synthesis of Fullerenes

Fullerenes form a series of new allotropes of carbon that have a myriad of unusual properties. Fullerene research has seen explosive growth since 1990 when C60 was isolated from carbon soot. However, the prohibitively high price of pure C60 ($2000/g) is a major obstacle to fullerene research and certainly for commercial applications. These high costs are due to the low yields obtained using current technology. We propose to develop superior methods for synthesizing and purifying fullerenes with the goal of dramaticallly reducing the cost for pure fullerenes. We will control fullerene growth to achieve high yields of small and midsized, solvent-extractable fullerenes by minimizing the formation of soot, giant fullerenes, and buckytubes. In addition to eliminating the formation of undesirable side products, we expect to carry out the conversions at significantly lower temperatures and to direct the formation of other fullerene materials, which are not currently available commercially. The efficient synthesis, isolation, and purification of fullerenes would greatly reduce production costs, thereby further stimulating fullerene research and helping to make potential commercial applications for fullerenes a reality.