Polymer-induced fractal patterns of [60]fullerene containing poly(methacrylic acid) in salt solutions

Well-defined water-soluble pH-responsive [60]fullerene (C60) containing poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA-b-C60) was synthesized using the atom transfer radical polymerization technique. By varying pH and salt concentration, different types of fractal patterns at nano- to microscopic dimensions were observed for negatively charged PMAA-b-C60, while such structure was not observed for positively charged poly(2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate)-b-C60. We demonstrated that negatively charged fullerene containing polymeric systems can serve as excellent nanotemplates for the controlled growth of inorganic crystals at the nano- to micrometer length scale, and the possible mechanism was proposed.