SBIR PHASE I: Electrochemical Purification of Metallofullerenes

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95-61553 Alford This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will attempt to demonstrate that metallofullerenes can be efficiently and economically purified via electrochemical processes. Metallofullerenes are closed carbon cage molecules containing a trapped metal atom or atoms. They are a unique new class of molecules with a variety of potential industrial applications. Because the encapsulated metal atom transfers its electrons to the fullerene shell, metallofullerenes have a substantially different electronic structure than empty fullerenes. An electrochemical purification process based on this large difference has the potential of radically reducing the cost of purifying metallofullerenes as compared to the current purification method which utilizes a very expensive and time consuming two step chromatography process. The prohibitive cost of this chromatography process has prevented pure metallofullerenes from being commercially available_making research on industrial applications of metallofullerenes economically infeasible to date. Development of a relatively inexpensive electrochemical purification process that could be scaled to much larger capactities would help spur the development of industrial applications for metallofullerenes in such fields as superconductors, electronics, nonlinear optics, and pharmaceuticals. During Phase I, the feasibility of electrochemical purification of metallofullerenes will be determined, with further optimization and scale-up of this process planned for Phase II.