Abstract
Many reports discuss the unique electronic, optical and magnetic properties of fullerene molecules. Such properties originate in their special molecular structure, which is spherical and highly symmetric. Not only fullerene molecules, several interesting papers describe bulk fullerene crystals formed by simple crystal growth from solutions, and which contain solvent molecules. However, only a few studies have been made on the synthesis of uniform fullerene fine crystals with a size in nano/micrometer scale. The preparation of fullerene nano/microcrystals with a uniform size and shape would permit the control of their specific electronic energy levels and the totally new properties. Thus, we have attempted this research, using reprecipitation method developed in our laboratory. By changing simply experimental conditions such as the selection of solvents, we have obtained various unexpected and unique shapes of C60 nano/microcrystals and with surprisingly monodispersed size.
