Synthesis of Nanoscale Fullerene C60 Filaments in the Volume of an Evaporating Drop of a Molecular Solution and Preparation of Thin Nanostructured Coatings on Their Basis
- Authors: Bakhramov S.A.1, Makhmanov U.K.1,2, Kokhkharov A.M.1
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Affiliations:
- Arifov Institute of Ion–Plasma and Laser Technologies, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences
- Institute of Chemical Physics, University of Latvia
- Issue: Vol 55, No 5 (2019)
- Pages: 309-314
- Section: Solar-Energy Materials Science
- URL: https://journal-vniispk.ru/0003-701X/article/view/149685
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S0003701X19050049
- ID: 149685
Cite item
Abstract
The features of nucleation and the mechanisms of further growth of nano- and microsized filamentary crystals (so-called whiskers) of fullerene in the volume of an isolated evaporating drop of a C60 molecular solution in ortho-xylene on a smooth surface of silicon and glass substrates have been studied for the first time. The morphological features and the exact dimensional characteristics of nanostructured mC60 fullerene filamentary crystals (where m is the number of spherical C60 macromolecules in the synthesized whisker) that are promising for the creation of nano- and micro-dimensional photoelectric converters in solar energy were determined by high-resolution scanning electron microscopy. When a drop of a molecular solution of C60 in ortho-xylene is transferred onto the surface of an optically smooth glass substrate, filamentary crystalline structures (nanowhiskers) with sizes of ∼250–700 nm in length and ∼50 nm wide were synthesized in the process of natural thermal evaporation of an organic solvent at room temperature (T ≈ 25°С). In this case, the surface of the resulting mC60 nanowhiskers is molecularly smooth, and the roughness does not exceed ∼5 nm. It has been found that at a temperature of silicon substrate T ≈ 35°С, not only the nucleation and growth of crystalline structures of filamentary nanocrystals in a volume of evaporating drop of C60 solution are accelerated, but there is also a significant (more than two orders of magnitude) increase in the final geometric dimensions of the synthesized whiskers. The ratio of the length (L ≈ 80 μm) to width (D ≈ 7.0 μm) of the filamentary crystals is approximately 11 : 1. A nanostructured organic semiconductor coating with a thickness of 10 μm, consisting of closely spaced mC60 filamentary crystals and a molecular layer of fullerene C60 on the smooth surface of a plane silicon substrate has been obtained for the first time.
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About the authors
S. A. Bakhramov
Arifov Institute of Ion–Plasma and Laser Technologies, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences
Email: urol_m@mail.ru
Uzbekistan, Tashkent, 100125
U. K. Makhmanov
Arifov Institute of Ion–Plasma and Laser Technologies, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences; Institute of Chemical Physics, University of Latvia
Author for correspondence.
Email: urol_m@mail.ru
Uzbekistan, Tashkent, 100125; Riga
A. M. Kokhkharov
Arifov Institute of Ion–Plasma and Laser Technologies, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences
Email: urol_m@mail.ru
Uzbekistan, Tashkent, 100125
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