Observation and characterization of sheet structure from ionic fullerenes

Self-assembly of C60-N, N′-dimethylpyrrolidinium iodide (C60-DMePyI) has been investigated in binary liquid mixtures. The C60-DMePyI molecules self-organized into nanosheets with a length of several microns and with a thickness of about 100 nm in a mixture of toluene and iodomethane. Scanning electron microscope observations indicated that a large number of nanorods having a diameter of about 20 nm were woven into the nanosheet. According to laser Raman spectroscopic and matrix assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectroscopic analyses, and X-ray diffraction study, the nanosheets involved chains of successive polyiodine units of the C60-DMePyI molecules.