Encapsulation of the fullerene derivative [6,6]-Phenyl-C 61-butyric acid methyl ester inside micellar structures Article uri icon

abstract

  • The solubilization and micellar encapsulation of fullerene derivative [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) have been investigated by the use of the amphiphilic block copolymer polystyrene-block- poly[ethylene oxide] (PS-b-PEO). Aqueous solutions were formed, starting from a codissolution of PCBM and PS-b-PEO in a mixture of chlorobenzene and ethanol, inducing micellization by replacing the common solvent chlorobenzene with water, using evaporation at 65 °C. The control of the experimental process has permitted us to obtain only two kinds of micellar morphologies encapsulating PCBM: small spheres whose diameters increase as a function of the PCBM concentration, from approximately 60 to 120 nm, and wormlike micelles with diameters smaller than 60 nm and lengths ranging from a few hundred nanometers to several micrometers. The optical properties reflect the expected encapsulation of PCBM. Furthermore, we show that the optical properties of the confined PCBM molecules can be modified by varying the quantity of fullerenic molecules in the micellar structures, which is due to the PCBM packing, as shown by our density functional theory (DFT) calculations. © 2009 American Chemical Society.

publication date

  • 2009-01-01