Water soluble, hydroxylated fullerene (fullerol) materials have recently gained increasing attention as environmentally relevant fullerenes as they have been identified as primary product(s) during exposure of C60 (aggregated nC60) to UV light in water. However, the subsequent environmental reactivity and resulting products of fullerol reaction(s) in aqueous systems are not yet well described. Here, we examine the chemical and physical transformation of 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, fullerol reactivity and kinetics are described for batch systems 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, 13C NMR. Product physical properties were characterized via quartz crystal microbalance (QCM-D) and classic water-octanol partition experiments. Results indicate that for all conditions, in the presence of free chlorine, fullerol reacts, resulting in significant surface (functional) alteration with differing physical (partitioning) behaviors when compared to parent materials. Further, the presence of light (351 nm, UVA) was observed to significantly enhance reaction rates, extent and product oxidation.

Photoenhanced chlorination of hydroxylated fullerene (fullerol) in water

249th National Meeting (2015)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.