IMPROVEMENT IN SEPARATION OF NANOSTRUCTURED CARBON CLUSTERS C60 AND C70

Abstract

We used carbon soot produced by electrical arc method. Fullerenes, mainly C 60 and C 70, were Soxhlet extracted from collected soot with chlorobenzene, by modified procedure yielding 5.8% of the extract. Chlorobenzene fullerenes extract was then separated on an active alumina column, modifying the existing methods, by elution with hexane and xylene/hexanes mixtures in determined ratios and orders. Buckminsterfullerene C 60 was identified in the first purified fraction using EI mass spectrometry, IR and UV/vis methods. The second and the third purified fraction, carbon soot and chlorobenzene soot extract were characterized by IR and UV/vis methods. Identifications of fullerenes in purified and unpurified forms were analyzed and compared.