SBIR Phase II: Advanced Fullerene Production

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目将开发电子转移方法，以回收巨大的不溶性富勒烯，这些富勒烯约占碳氢化合物燃烧路线产生的富勒烯的一半。在TDA开发并在吨/年规模上实践的燃烧过程产生的富勒烯中，大约20%的原始煤烟重量被回收为富勒烯(C60、C70等)。该项目表明，用电子转移方法可以将另外约15%-20%的烟尘回收为巨型富勒烯。这一二期项目将进一步研究不溶性富勒烯的化学，并开发以二甲苯抽提烟灰为原料的回收技术。我们还将实施该工艺，规模是第一阶段项目期间的100倍，每班回收100克不溶性富勒烯，以更好地确定和解决工艺化学和工程中的问题。在第二阶段项目之后，该工艺将安装在一家年产约32吨不溶性富勒烯的工厂。该项目正在开发的工艺将由富勒烯碳烟生产商商业化，使他们能够有效地将合成工艺的产量提高一倍。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，如人造生物材料的碳涂层、光学限制器或用作纳米技术设备的支架。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop electron transfer methods for the recovery of the giant, insoluble fullerenes that comprise about half of the fullerenes made by the hydrocarbon combustion route. Of the fullerenes produced by the combustion process developed at TDA, and practiced at the tons/year scale, ca. 20 % of the raw soot weight is recovered as fullerenes (C60, C70, etc.). It was shown in this project that another ca. 15 - 20% of the soot could be recovered as giant fullerenes using electron transfer methods. This Phase II project will further research the chemistry of the insoluble fullerenes and develop the recovery technique using xylene-extracted soot as a feedstock. We will also implement the process at 100 times the scale performed during the Phase I project, to 100g insoluble fullerenes recovered per shift, to better identify and address issues in the chemistry and engineering of the process. Following the Phase II project, the process will be installed at a plant producing ~32 tons/year of insoluble fullerenes. The process being developed in this project will be commercialized by fullerene soot producers, giving them the ability to effectively double the yield of the synthesis process. The recovered fullerenes will be useful for applications demanding a more robust, but still fullerenic material or coating, such as carbon coatings for artificial biomaterials, optical limiters, or as scaffolds for nanotechnological devices.