Fullerene self-assembly and supramolecular nanostructures

This review presents a summary of the recent research progresses on fullerene self-assembly and supramolecular nanostructures. Fullerene nanospheres, one-dimensional nanowires/nanotubes, and two-dimensional layers were studied with various microscopic techniques such as the scanning tunneling microscopy, scanning electronic microscopy, and the transmission electron microscopy etc. It was revealed that the fullerene self-assembling structures were determined by both the fullerene intermolecular interactions and the fullerene–substrate interaction, therefore, different fullerene supramolecular nanostructures and morphologies could be obtained through controlling experimental conditions, e.g., the chemical modification of fullerenes by different chemical groups, the treatment of substrates, or the adopting of solvents etc.