Synthesis and characterization of tri-component nanostructures of fullerene

Tri-component nanostructures of C60/m-xylene/thiophene were synthesized via a solvent-induced self-assembly method and characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, FT-IR, and Raman. The shapes of nanostructures were dependent on the concentration of C60, the volume ratio of thiophene to m-xylene, and the volume ratio of mixture solvent to isopropanol. High-resolution TEM image and SAED pattern revealed that twisted nanorods of C60 were single crystals and had an hcp structure. The EDX and FT-IR analysis confirmed the existence of thiophene. The results indicated that the twisted nanorods consisted of pristine C60, m-xylene, and thiophene molecules. In addition, thiophene molecules were assumed to partially replace m-xylene molecule in the C60/m-xylene lattice. Such tri-component nanorods of C60 are ideal building blocks for fabricating novel nanodevices.

► Tri-component twisted nanorods of C60/m-xylene/thiophene were fabricated by a solvent-induced self-assembly method.
► The EDX and FT-IR analysis confirm the existence of thiophene.
► Moreover, thiophene molecules are assumed to partially replace m-xylene molecule in the C60/m-xylene lattice.