Synthesis of a fullerene-based one-dimensional nanopolymer through topochemical transformation of the parent nanowire

TL;DR

This paper reports the synthesis and detailed characterization of a novel fullerene-based one-dimensional nanopolymer, created via a topochemical transformation of nanowires, with potential applications in nanodevices and biological fields.

Contribution

It introduces a new C60-based nanowire polymer synthesized through a topochemical process, with comprehensive structural and theoretical analysis.

Findings

Crystalline structure with high length-to-width ratio

Excellent thermal stability of the nanopolymer

Evidence of covalent bonding confirmed by spectroscopic methods

Abstract

Large-scale practical applications of fullerene (C60) in nanodevices could be significantly facilitated if the commercially-available micrometer-scale raw C60 powder were further processed into a one-dimensional (1D) nanowire-related polymer displaying covalent bonding as molecular interlinks and resembling traditional important conjugated polymers. However, there has been little study thus far in this area despite the abundant literature on fullerene. Here we report the synthesis and characterization of such a C60-based nanowire polymer, (-C60TMB-)n, where TMB=1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, which displays a well-defined crystalline structure, exceptionally large length-to-width ratio and excellent thermal stability. The material is prepared by first growing the corresponding nanowire through a solution phase of C60 followed by a topochemical polymerization reaction in the solid state. Gas chromatography, mass spectrometry and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance evidence is provided for the nature of the covalent bonding mode adopted by the polymeric chains. Theoretical analysis based on detailed calculations of the reaction energetics and structural analysis provides an in-depth understanding of the polymerization pathway. The nanopolymer promises important applications in biological fields and in the development of optical, electrical, and magnetic nanodevices.