ABSTRACT
It is of common knowledge that fullerenes form colloids in polar solvents. However, the coagulation via electrolytes and the origin of the negative charge of species are still unexplored. Using a 'radical scavenger' and electrospray ionization spectroscopy (ESI), we proved the formation of ion-radical C60Ë(-) and its (probable) transformation into C60(2-) or (C60)2(2-). The coagulation of C60 organosols by NaClO4 and other perchlorates and nitrates in acetonitrile and its mixture with benzene obeys the Schulze-Hardy rule. At higher Ca(ClO4)2 and La(ClO4)3 concentrations, instead of coagulation, stable re-charged colloidal particles appeared, up to a zeta-potential of +(20-42) mV, as compared with -(33-35) mV of the initial organosols. The influence of both HClO4 and CF3SO3H was similar. This phenomenon is attributed to poor solvation of inorganic cations in cationo- and protophobic acetonitrile, which was proven using [2.2.2] cryptand. Further increasing the concentration of Ca(ClO4)2 led again to coagulation, thus demonstrating a novel type of 'coagulation zones'.
ABSTRACT
Using transmittance electron microscopy, fluorescence and polarizing optical microscopy, optical spectroscopy, and fluorescent correlation spectroscopy, it was shown that CdSe/ZnS quantum dots coated with a specifically designed surfactant were readily dispersed in nematic liquid crystal (LC) to form stable colloids. The mixture of an alkyl phosphonate and a dendritic surfactant, where the constituent molecules contain promesogenic units, enabled the formation of thermodynamically stable colloids that were stable for at least 1 year. Stable colloids are formed due to minimization of the distortion of the LC ordering around the quantum dots.
