SBIR Phase I: Advanced Fullerene Production

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将开发和评估电化学方法，以回收由碳氢化合物燃烧路线产生的大部分富勒烯的巨型和不溶性富勒烯。在TDA燃烧系统产生的富勒烯中，约有100%的原始烟尘重量被回收为富勒烯(C60、C70等)。用邻二甲苯清洗烟尘并过滤。然而，其他分析表明，大多数富勒烯不是通过直接的洗涤技术回收的。在先前的NSF SBIR第一阶段中，Diener和Alford(自然393,688)展示了一种从混合富勒烯升华中分离C74、巨富勒烯和其他传统上不溶的富勒烯的电化学方法。该第一阶段项目是为了将这些想法扩展到处理提取的烟尘，并以公斤或更大的批次规模实施。回收的富勒烯将用于需要更坚固但仍然饱满的材料或涂层的应用。一种可能性是人造生物材料的碳涂层，在这种涂层中，纳米级的粗糙度促进了细胞的生长，并增加了碳已经很高的生物相容性。在钢植入物上形成一层薄薄而坚固的富勒烯薄膜，有可能提供碳植入物的高性能，但成本只有它的一小部分。小带隙富勒烯也有可能发挥作用，利用其假定的三维导电性，作为光学限制器，或作为纳米技术设备的支架。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop and assess electrochemical methods for recovery of the giant and insoluble fullerenes that comprise the bulk of the fullerenes made by the hydrocarbon combustion route. Of the fullerenes produced by the combustion system at TDA, ca. 10 0E 12 % of the raw soot weight is recovered as fullerenes (C60, C70, etc.) by washing the soot with o-xylene and filtering. Yet other analyses demonstrate that most of the fullerenes are not recovered by straightforward washing techniques. In a prior NSF SBIR Phase I, Diener and Alford (Nature 393, 688) demonstrated an electrochemical method for separation of C74, giant fullerenes, and other traditionally insoluble fullerenes from mixed fullerene sublimate. This Phase I project is for the expansion of those ideas to processing of the extracted soot and implementation on a kilogram or greater batch scale. The recovered fullerenes will be useful for applications demanding a more robust, but still fullerenic material or coating. One possibility is carbon coatings for artificial biomaterials, where roughness on a nanometer scale promotes cell growth and increases the already high biocompatibility of carbon. A thin, robust film of higher fullerenes on steel implants potentially offers the high performance of carbon implants, but with a fraction of the cost. It is also possible that the small bandgap fullerenes could have roles that make use of their postulated three- dimensional electrical conductivity, as optical limiters, or as scaffolds for nanotechnological devices.