Fullerene-based nanostructures

In conclusion, such three-dimensional carbon-based nanostructures as fullerenes and nanotubes constitute scaffolds whose efficient functionalization and derivatization... 

After the discovery of fullerenes [10] the family of carbon based nanostructures has been constantly growing (see Fig. 3). Fullerene discovery was followed by... 

Park, S., Y. Xie, and M.J. Weaver, Electrocatalytic pathways on carbon-supported platinum nanoparticles Comparison of particle-size-dependent rates of methanol, formic acid und formaldehyde electrooxidation. Langmuir, 2002. 18(15) pp. 5792-5798 Vinodgopal, K., M. Haria, D. Meisel, and P. Kamat, Fullerene-based carbon nanostructures for methanol oxidation. Nano Letters, 2004. 4(3) pp. 415 18 Sun, N.X. and K. Lu, Physical Review B, 1997. 54 pp. 6058... 

Further examples of bicomponent materials based on carbon consist of doped fullerenes, CNTs, and graphene. The nature of these carbon-based nanostructures is significantly modified by the substitution of some carbon atoms with foreign metallic and non-metalhc atoms (Fig. 6.15). In addition, fullerenes and CNTs can host similar species inside their own structures. However, the effectiveness of these systems in electroanalysis is still poorly investigated [160, 161], despite their popularity in other scientific fields. 

Carbon s ability to form more different types of (directional) bonds with many different elements has also led to the formation of nanostructures based partly or completely on carbon. The fullerenes, with Ceo being the most prominent example, the carbon nanotubes, and graphene are some examples of such systems. Synthesis, experimental studies of the properties, and theoretical calculations have all been applied to these carbon-based nanostructures and here we shall just briefly review some few, recent theoretical studies. 

Sulman, E., Yanov, L, Leszczynski, J. (1999). An active site model and the catalytic activity mechanism of the new fullerene-based catalyst - ( / -C6o)Pd(PPh3)2. Fullerenes, Nanotubes and Carbon Nanostructures, 7, 467-484. 

More recently, another example of a Pc-based system (31) (Fig. 27a) able to self-organize on HOPG and graphite-like surfaces by drop-casting technique was reported. AFM studies revealed that the covalently linked Pc-C6o fullerene conjugate 31 is able to form nanostructured fibers and films (Fig. 27b) [48],... 

Tagmatarchis, N., and M. Prato. 2005. Carbon-based materials From fullerene nanostructures to functiorralized carbon nanotubes. Pure and Applied Chemistry 77(10) 1675-1684. 

Carbon nanostructures (Fig. 6.2) comprise a variety of materials [42] based mainly on carbon atoms with sp hybridization. The most widespread in the field of electroanalysis are CNTs [1,25,29, 30,43,44] and graphene [1, 7,9,12,21,22, 45 9], although applications involving fullerene [50] and carbon black [51] have also been reported. Both CNTs and graphene are graphite derivatives, consisting of rolled or planar sheets, respectively. Both single- and multi-wall CNTs have been... 

At the Wake Forest University in North Carolina successful research has been based on the creation of a micron scale structure made from a mixmre of a polymer and nanostructures (Cg fullerenes). The technology involves the use of a novel annealing technique and is able to attain conversion efficiencies in excess of 5%. Similar results have been achieved by teams at University of California laboratories in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. Other work on the use of nanocomposites to manufacture solar cells is being carried out at Columbia University and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory which have granted Nanosys worldwide exclusive rights to commercially exploit the technology. 

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