Formation of iodine-doped C60 whiskers by the use of liquid–liquid interfacial precipitation method

Abstract

Iodine-doped whiskers of C60 (I–C60 whiskers) with diameters ranging from submicrometers to micrometers and lengths longer than 100 μm were successfully obtained by the use of the liquid–liquid interfacial precipitation method. Transmission electron microscopy observations showed that the I–C60 whiskers were single crystalline and had a growth axis parallel to the close-packed direction of C60 molecules and expanded (002) lattice planes indicative of the intercalation of iodine and oxygen atoms between the (002) planes of a body-centered-tetragonal crystal system. The I–C60 whiskers showed nonlinear I-V curves. The electrical resistivity of the I–C60 whiskers was more than three orders of magnitude lower than that of pristine face-centered-cubic C60 crystals.