Surfactant-free Fabrication of Fullerene C₆₀ Nanotubules Under Shear

A method for controlling the self-assembly of fullerene C₆₀ molecules into nanotubules in the fcc phase, devoid of entrapped solvent, has been established in a thin film microfluidic device. The micron length C₆₀ nanotubules, with individual hollow diameters of 100 to 400 nm, are formed under continuous flow processing during high shear micromixing of water and a toluene solution of the fullerene, in the absence of surfactant, and without the need for further down-stream processing. TEM revealed pores on the surface of the nanotubes, and the isolated material has a much higher response to small molecule sensing than that for analogous material formed using multistep batch processing.