Self-Assembled Fullerene Crystals as Excellent Aromatic Vapor Sensors

Here we report the aromatic vapor sensing performance of bitter melon shaped nanoporous fullerene C(60) crystals that are self-assembled at a liquid-liquid interface between isopropyl alcohol and C(60) solution in dodecylbenzene at 25 °C. Average length and center diameter of the crystals were ca. 10 μm and ~2 μm, respectively. Powder X-ray diffraction pattern (pXRD) confirmed a face-centered cubic (fcc) structure with cell dimension ca. a = 1.4272 nm, and V = 2.907 nm(3), which is similar to that of the pristine fullerene C(60). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the presence of a nanoporous structure. Quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) results showed that the bitter melon shaped nanoporous C(60) performs as an excellent sensing system, particularly for aromatic vapors, due to their easy diffusion through the porous architecture and strong π–π interactions with the sp(2)-carbon.