Stanley J. Brois

Fullerene grafted hydrocarbon polymers

We have free radically grafted fullerene onto saturated hydrocarbon polymers such as ethylene-propylene copolymer. The product is soluble in solvents such as hexane or tetrahydrofuran, in which the fullerene is essentially insoluble. The reaction of the fullerene and polymer was followed by i.r. spectroscopy and gel permeation chromatography. In these graft copolymers, fullerene may provide sites for further derivatization, including derivatization by methods which would fail for the original polymer.