SBIR Phase I: Production of Mini-Fullerenes

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目旨在开发一种新的工艺来制造比传统富勒烯尺寸小的小型富勒烯。先前的研究已经成功地开发和商业化了制造富勒烯的燃烧过程，因此，传统的富勒烯现在可以在商业上大量生产。这些富勒烯现在被用于各种新产品，包括聚合物和先进的复合材料，并正在积极研究在化妆品和药品中的应用。预计小于C60的富勒烯具有独特的结构和电子特性，这将使它们在新型先进材料中具有商业价值。然而，目前还没有成功的合成方法。这个第一阶段的项目将研究一种基于目前市售的更大的富勒烯的新型合成工艺。这一过程具有固有的可扩展性，最终将允许生产吨级的微型富勒烯。据估计，在商业上，小富勒烯将用于形成硬和超硬材料，并形成坚硬的全碳保护涂层和薄膜。它们还将用于聚合物和先进复合材料的组成部分。因为它们会形成三维网络，全是碳固体，有些形式会是金属和半导体的，这将使它们成为有价值的新型电子材料。想要研究这种新材料的性能的科学家和公司将会立即提供微型富勒烯的研究产品市场。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project aims to develop a new process to manufacture small fullerenes having a size less than conventional fullerenes. Prior research performed has lead to the successful development and commercialization of a combustion process for making fullerenes, and as a result, conventional fullerenes are now commercially available in ton quantities. These fullerenes are now finding uses in a variety of new products including polymers and advanced composite materials and are being actively investigated for use in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Fullerenes smaller than C60 are predicted to have unique structural and electronic properties that would make them commercially valuable for new types of advanced materials. However, no successful process has yet been developed to synthesize them. This Phase I project will investigate a new type of synthesis process based on the now commercially available larger fullerenes. This process is inherently scalable and would eventually allow the production of the mini-fullerenes at the ton level.Commercially it is estimated that small fullerenes will be commercially useful for forming hard and ultra hard materials and to form hard, all carbon protective coatings and films. They will also find use in polymers and as components for advanced composite materials. Because they will form three-dimensional networked, all carbon solids, some forms will be metallic and semi-conducting, and this will make them valuable as new electronic materials. An immediate research products market for mini-fullerenes will be available from scientists and corporations that want to investigate the properties of this new material.