Tetsuro Yoshii

Characterization of fullerene nanotubes prepared by the liquid?liquid interfacial precipitation method

Abstract C70 nanotubes were prepared by using pyridine and isopropyl alcohol and heated in air at 250 °C in order to eliminate the contained solvents ‘heat treated C70’. The C70 nanotubes were also successfully prepared by use of pyridine and isobutyl alcohol. The C70 nanotubes heated at 1100 °C in vacuum became amorphous carbon, but retained the tubular structure. The structural characteristics of these C70nanotubes are observed through their high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.

Structure and properties of fullerene nanowhiskers prepared by the liquid-liquid interfacial precipitation method

Fine needle-like crystals of C60, “C60 nanowhiskers”, were found in 2001 in a colloidal solution of PZT ceramics with added C60. Not only the C60 nanowhiskers but also nanowhiskers composed of C70 and C60 derivatives can be synthesized at room temperature by using the liquid-liquid interfacial precipitation method (LLIP method). Tubular nanowhiskers composed of C60 and C70 molecules have been successfully fabricated by using the LLIP method as well. The tubular fullerene nanowhiskers are named “fullerene nanotubes” here. The tubular fullerene nanowhisker is a new form of single crystalline needle-like crystal whose wall is composed of fullerene molecules. In this paper, structural, electrical and mechanical properties of the fullerene nanowhiskers and fullerene nanotubes are discussed.