The formation of self-assembled structures of C60 in solution and in the volume of an evaporating drop of a colloidal solution

Abstract

The results of experiments on the self-aggregation of C₆₀ fullerene molecules both inside a two-component solvent (xylene/tetrahydrofuran) and in the volume of an evaporating drop of C₆₀ colloidal solution on a flat substrate surface are presented. The investigations of C₆₀ solutions using dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy and UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy methods revealed the possibility of synthesis of fractal nanoaggregates with a diameter of up to ~135 nm at low concentrations of C₆₀ in the solutions. The final geometric dimensions of C₆₀ nanoaggregates were determined by the initial concentration of fullerene in the solvent medium. Using the scanning electron microscopy method, we have shown that in an open dissipative system – in the volume of an evaporating droplet of the colloidal solution of fullerene C₆₀ sessile on the surface of a flat glass substrate, large quasispherical nanoaggregates with an average diameter of ~380–800 nm are formed. The physical features and regularities that characterize the processes of self-aggregation of fullerene particles in the volume of a drying drop were determined.