Sulfonate-modified fullerenes mimicking tentacle structures for humidity sensors

Yuying Chen; Huimin Wu; Fei Jin; Hong-Liang Ge; Feng Gao; Qiong Wu; Song Wang; Ying Wang; Hua Yang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2024.02.024

Sulfonate-modified fullerenes mimicking tentacle structures for humidity sensors

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2024 May:661:977-986. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.02.024. Epub 2024 Feb 5.

Authors

Yuying Chen¹, Huimin Wu¹, Fei Jin², Hong-Liang Ge³, Feng Gao⁴, Qiong Wu¹, Song Wang⁵, Ying Wang¹, Hua Yang¹

Affiliations

¹ Magnetism Key Laboratory of Zhejiang Province, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310018, PR China.
² Magnetism Key Laboratory of Zhejiang Province, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310018, PR China. Electronic address: jinfei@cjlu.edu.cn.
³ Magnetism Key Laboratory of Zhejiang Province, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310018, PR China. Electronic address: hongliang_ge@cjlu.edu.cn.
⁴ College of Optical and Electronic Technology, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310018, PR China. Electronic address: gaofeng@cjlu.edu.cn.
⁵ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Environment and Resources, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing 400067, PR China.

PMID: 38330669
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.02.024

Abstract

In this work, a straightforward method for synthesizing fullerene derivatives with tentacle structures has been explored for monitoring environmental humidity, which involves introducing sulfonate onto the fullerenes. The structure and number of polar groups in three fullerene derivatives determined by a series of structural tests greatly affect their hydrophilicity and morphology, resulting in changes in humidity sensitive properties. In particular, the hysteresis and response time of the sensors display a great correlation with hydrophilicity. C₆₀-Ho, the best performing derivative of this work, has exhibited high response values (∼3500 times), good linearity (R² = 97.3 %), and rapid response/recovery times (0.3/4.4 s), making it suitable for various applications such as non-contact detection of respiration, finger distance, and soil humidity.

Keywords: Fullerene derivative; Humidity sensing; Hydrophilicity; Sulfonate; Tentacle structure.