Nanostructure origins of C60 fluorescence in pyridine

The nanostructure origins of three distinct and strong fluorescence bands of C60 in room-temperature pyridine are reported for the first time. Fluorescence study and in-situ TEM observation on C60-pyridine solutions with different setting times exhibit that the blue fluorescence peaks centered at 440 nm originate from C60 nanoparticles; the yellow-green fluorescence band located at 575 nm derives from C60 lace-like cluster; and the salmon pink fluorescence band around 700 nm arises from C60 microbulk in solution. The conclusions are supported further by investigation on the C60-toluene system as well.