Medium-range order in molecular materials: fluctuation electron microscopy for detecting fullerenes in disordered...

During a fluctuation electron microscopy (FEM) study of disordered carbons, we found that samples containing C(60) exhibit a normalized variance peak at 7.1 nm(-1) that appears to be a unique indicator of tight curvature in layered materials. This peak is associated with the characteristic in-plane carbon-carbon bond distance of approximately 0.14 nm in graphene. Diffraction from this spacing is normally forbidden in planar graphene (and graphite), but becomes allowed when the layer structure is interrupted. Such interruptions arise at the edges of graphite fragments and also when 5-rings are incorporated into a layer. We show that the curvature induced by a high density of 5-rings, such as that in C(60), can dominate the variance peak at 7.1 nm(-1). FEM simulations reveal that the variance peak at approximately 7.1 nm(-1), which we label F(1), is one of several fullerene-signature peaks, with others occurring at Q values of 10.6 nm(-1) (F(2)) and 12.4 nm(-1) (F(3)). We conclude that FEM is a sensitive method for detecting dilute quantities of highly curved pentagon-rich fullerenes, such as C(60), when dispersed within disordered graphitic carbon.