Morphology of C60 crystals synthesized in microfluidic space
Abstract
Since their initial discovery in 1985, Fullerene C60 has attracted significant attention for their unique physical and chemical properties. In terms of technological issues, fabricating C60 crystals with complex shapes for practical uses is a very important challenge. Recently, the liquid/liquid interfacial precipitation method for the synthesis of needle-like C60 nanowhisker crystals was reported. However, the bulk structures of these C60 crystals were all uniform and were single-dimensional. Here, we report unusual structures of C60 crystals including tubes, trees, branches, hollow-ended columns, multiple pods, short prisms, and needles synthesized in a microfluidic device using a simple liquid/liquid interfacial precipitation method. The C60 crystal morphology is categorized mainly by temperature, and is similar to the morphology of snow crystals. This simple method yields complex geometries of C60 crystals quickly, and could be applied to all materials synthesis techniques that use liquid/liquid interfacial precipitation.
- Publication:
-
APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- November 2006
- Bibcode:
- 2006APS..DFD.AD006S