title: Demonstration of ultrarapid interfacial formation of 1D fullerene nanorods with photovoltaic properties.
abstract: We demonstrate ultrarapid interfacial formation of one-dimensional (1D) single-crystalline fullerene C60 nanorods at room temperature in 5 s. The nanorods of ∼ 11 μm in length and ∼ 215 nm in diameter are developed in a hexagonal close-pack crystal structure, contrary to the cubic crystal structure of pristine C60. Vibrational and electronic spectroscopy provide strong evidence that the nanorods are a van der Waals solid, as evidenced from the preservation of the electronic structure of the C60 molecules within the rods. Steady state optical spectroscopy reveals a dominance of charge transfer excitonic transitions in the nanorods. A significant enhancement of photogenerated charge carriers is observed in the nanorods in comparison to pristine C60, revealing the effect of shape on the photovoltaic properties. Due to their ultrarapid, large-scale, room-temperature synthesis with single-crystalline structure and excellent optoelectronic properties, the nanorods are expected to be promising for photosensitive devices applications.
authors.affiliation: Catalytic Materials Group, Environmental Remediation Materials Unit, Environment and Energy Materials Division, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) , 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 Japan.
authors.forename: Rekha Goswami
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Shrestha
authors.forename: Lok Kumar
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Shrestha
authors.forename: Ali Hossain
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Gundam Sandeep
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Somobrata
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Acharya
authors.forename: Katsuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ariga
keywords: fullerene single-crystal nanorods; liquid−liquid interfacial precipitation; photoluminescence; photovoltaic properties; ultrarapid crystal formation