The environmental reactivity and resulting products of water stable fullerenes (as nano-scale aggregates and hydroxylated fullerene) in aqueous systems remain underdeveloped.  Identifying and elucidating aqueous (major) transformation pathways for fullerenes and other, curved carbon materials in water is critical for accurate life cycle assessments and ultimate sustainability.  Here we examine the chemical and physical transformation of water stable C60 aggregates and hydroxylated fullerene in the presence of free chlorine, a widely applied oxidative disinfectant in water treatment systems. Under both light (photo-excited) and dark (ground state) conditions with free chlorine, fullerene reactivities were evaluated in batch systems, evaluating reaction kinetics, over a range of water chemistries and reaction conditions.  Resulting fullerene-based, oxychlorination products were characterized through a suite of analytical techniques, including FTIR, XPS, Raman spectroscopy, 13C NMR, TEM and DLS. Product physical properties were further characterized via quartz crystal microbalance (QCM-D), aggregation kinetics (attachment efficiencies as a function of ionic strength) and classic water-octanol partition experiments.   Together, results indicate that for all conditions and for both starting materials, in the presence of free chlorine, fullerenes react resulting in significant surface functionality alteration and differing physical (partitioning) behavior when compared to parent materials.  Further, the presence of light (351 nm at a typical sunlight intensity) was observed to significantly enhanced reaction rates for both starting materials.

Photoenhanced chlorination of hydroxylated fullerene (Fullerenol) and C<sub>60</sub> aggregates (nC<sub>60</sub>) in water

248th National Meeting (2014)

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Photoenhanced chlorination of hydroxylated fullerene (Fullerenol) and C60 aggregates (nC60) in water

Photoenhanced chlorination of hydroxylated fullerene (Fullerenol) and C₆₀ aggregates (nC₆₀) in water