[Synthesis and spectral properties of novel C60 derivative/Ag nanocomposites]

The studies on the synthesis and properties of fullerene derivatives had been an active topic in the fullerene chemistry. So synthesis of novel fullerene derivatives and their assembly with functional nanoparticles are very meaningful. In this paper a new bipyridine-substituted [60] fullerene derivative N-methyl-2-[4'-(4"-methyl-2', 2"-bipyridinyl)]-3,4- [60] fulleropyrrolidine (C60 BPY) was synthesized by a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction with C60, 4-methyl-2,2'-bipyridine-4'-carbaldehyde and Sarcosine. Well-fined C60 BPY/Ag nanoparticles and nanostructure film were prepared by reduction method using NaBH4 as reagent and self-assembly approach with silver colloid, respectively. Transmission electronic microscope images showed that the diameters of two hybrid structures were about 30-45 nm and 40-55 nm, respectively. The nanoparticles were regular in shape with an uniform size distribution. The results indicated that C60 BPY molecule could effectively control the growth and aggregation of silver particles, and make them stable and dispersible well during the process of forming C60 BPY/Ag nanocomposites. The UV-Visible absorption spectra showed the surface plasma resonance peaks of silver nanoparticles at 430 and 490 nm in the two nanocomposites, respectively. A red shift of the plasma peak with increasing the size of the nanoparticles was also observed. The fluorescence emission peaks of C60 BPY at 720 and 805 nm were significantly quenched by the formation of the C60 BPY/Ag nanocomposites. Then the mechanism of quenching was discussed. These nanocomposites may have potential applications in optoelectrionic devices, sensors and catalysis.