Using High Performance Liquid Chromatography to Determine the C60:C70 Ratio in Fullerene Soot:: An Undergraduate Chemistry Lab
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Michael C. Zumwalt [1] ; M. Bonner Denton [1]
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[1] University of Arizona
University of Arizona
Estados Unidos
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- Localización: Journal of chemical education, ISSN 0021-9584, Vol. 72, Nº 10 (October), 1995, págs. 939-940
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
The discovery of a technique for fullerene production in macroscopic quantities has lead to an explosion of research, particularly in chemistry, over the past few years. As more and more interest is generated in this field, an increasing number of chambers are being constructed for classroom, laboratory, and commercial use to meet subsequent demand. The carbon soot produced in these chambers is made up primarily of C60 and C70, which are then extracted usually by dissolving and filtering. However, since this extraction is a mixture, it is of interest to determine the ratio of one fullerene-type to the other. Such a determination can be carried out by first separating the C60 and C70 on an analytical high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) column and then measuring the relative absorptions in the ultra-violet (UV). The importance of this result cannot be exaggerated. Commercialy, specification of the ratio must be made before sale. In the laboratory this result can aid in determining what operating parameters are required to favor the production of one fullerene over the other. As for the classroom, besides the edifying value of working with new materials, the student can gain insight into production and analysis. The experiment described here demonstrates a relatively simple separation of C60 and C70 using a 1:1 acetonitrile/toluene mobile phase through a silica-bonded C18 column. The separation is detected by UV absorption analysis which allows for determining the ratio of the two fullerenes based on results also given.
