Water Adsorption on π-Surfaces of Open-Fullerenes

Understanding the water adsorptive behavior of fullerenes is of particular importance for their material application in aqueous media. The conventional fullerenols usually provide complex physical pictures of water adsorption due to their uncontrollable hydroxylation degree and substitution pattern. Herein, we focus on poorly hydroxylated fullerenes with well-defined structures. The water adsorptive behavior was examined by synchrotron IR spectroscopy and computational studies. As a result, three types of IR bands were observed for adsorbed water. The population of the three states was considerably altered by the orientational difference of the hydroxy groups. Nevertheless, water adsorption could not occur for 9-fluorenol and catechol. This indicates that the Lewis acidic fullerene π-surface plays a prominent role in water adsorption, while the rather Lewis basic π-surface of 9-fluorenol is unable to attract much water at a boundary with humid air.