Green and rapid preparation of long-term stable aqueous dispersions of fullerenes and endohedral fullerenes: The pros and cons of an ultrasonic probe

Ivan V Mikheev; Mariya O Pirogova; Liliia O Usoltseva; Anna S Uzhel; Timofey A Bolotnik; Ivan E Kareev; Viacheslav P Bubnov; Natalia S Lukonina; Dmitry S Volkov; Alexey A Goryunkov; Mikhail V Korobov; Mikhail A Proskurnin

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2021.105533

Green and rapid preparation of long-term stable aqueous dispersions of fullerenes and endohedral fullerenes: The pros and cons of an ultrasonic probe

Ultrason Sonochem. 2021 May:73:105533. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2021.105533. Epub 2021 Mar 19.

Affiliations

¹ Chemistry Department Analytical Chemistry Division of Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia. Electronic address: mikheev.ivan@gmail.com.
² Chemistry Department Analytical Chemistry Division of Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia. Electronic address: mariy7991@yandex.ru.
³ Chemistry Department Physical Chemistry Division of Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia. Electronic address: usoltsevalilya@gmail.com.
⁴ Chemistry Department Analytical Chemistry Division of Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia. Electronic address: anna_uzhel@mail.ru.
⁵ Chemistry Department Analytical Chemistry Division of Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia. Electronic address: timab@tut.by.
⁶ Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 142432 Chernogolovka, Moscow Region, Russia. Electronic address: kareev@icp.ac.ru.
⁷ Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 142432 Chernogolovka, Moscow Region, Russia. Electronic address: bubnov@icp.ac.ru.
⁸ Chemistry Department Physical Chemistry Division of Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia. Electronic address: nsovchinnikova@gmail.com.
⁹ Chemistry Department Analytical Chemistry Division of Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia. Electronic address: dmsvolkov@gmail.com.
¹⁰ Chemistry Department Physical Chemistry Division of Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia. Electronic address: alexey.a.goryunkov@gmail.com.
¹¹ Chemistry Department Physical Chemistry Division of Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia. Electronic address: mkorobov49@gmail.com.
¹² Chemistry Department Analytical Chemistry Division of Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia. Electronic address: proskurnin@gmail.com.

Abstract

A green, scalable, and sustainable approach to prepare aqueous fullerene dispersions (AFD) C₆₀, C₇₀, endohedral metallofullerene Gd@C₈₂, and their derivatives C₆₀Cl₆, C₇₀Cl₁₀, and supramolecular and ester-like derivatives, 10 fullerene species total, is proposed. For the first time, an immersed ultrasonic probe was used to preparing dispersions for pristine fullerenes without addends. Both ultrasound-assisted solvent-exchange and direct sonication techniques for AFD preparation using an immersed probe were tested. The average time for AFD preparation decreases 10-15 times compared to an ultrasound-bath-assisted technique, while final fullerene concentrations in AFDs remained at tens of ppm (up to 80 ppm). The aqueous dispersions showed long-term stability, a negatively charged surface with a zeta potential up to -32 mV with an average nanocluster diameter of no more than 180 nm. The total anionic and cationic compositions of samples were found by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy and chromatographic techniques. The highlights and challenges of using an ultrasound probe for AFD production are discussed.

Keywords: Aqueous fullerene dispersion; Endofullerene; Fullerene; Immersible ultrasound probe; Sonochemistry; Ultrasound-assisted preparation.