C60-PMO: periodic mesoporous buckyballsilica

Here we report the first documented synthesis of a periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO), that contains a multiply bonded C60 moiety integrated into the silica channel walls of the material, dubbed C60-PMO. This is accomplished through the acid-catalyzed co-assembly, of C60(NHCH2CH2CH2Si(OEt)3)x and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) with a polyethyleneoxide-polylpropyleneoxide-polyethyleneoxide triblock copolymer template. The percentage of C60 in the final material was estimated to be a minimum of 63 vol %, but potentially as high as 91 vol %. The effects of the synthesis conditions on the mesostructure of the resulting materials are examined. In particular, we demonstrate that the C60 is uniformly distributed throughout the entire sample by the use of energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDX) analysis and an OsO4 label bonded to the C60.