Selection of an appropriate aqueous nano-fullerene (nC60) preparation protocol for studying its environmental fate and behavior

The inevitable future environmental release of fullerene nanoparticles (nC60) requires the development of specific analytical methodologies that are able to identify, characterize and quantify these new nanomaterial species. As is well detailed in the literature, the characterization of nanoscale materials requires the consideration of several physical and chemical parameters, such as size, size distribution, shape, charge surface, and surface chemistry. All of these parameters must be determined to assess the representative impact of manufactured nanoparticles in environmental media. Nevertheless, appropriate and environmentally representative nanoparticles standards are not currently available for the development of such analytical strategy and validating measurements. This tentative critical review presents a different pathway for the preparation of fullerene nanoparticles in aqueous media for environmental studies (characterization, fate and behavior determination). The principal drawbacks and bias measurement are presented as well as the consequences of this new pathway for our understanding of environmental implications.