Endohedral metallofullerenes (fullerenes with metal atom(s) encapsulated) are novel forms of fullerene-based materials which have attracted wide interest during the past eight years, not only in physics and chemistry but also in such interdisciplinary areas as materials and biological sciences. In this paper, advances in the production, separation (isolation) and various spectroscopic characterizations of endohedral metallofullerenes are presented in an attempt to clarify their structural, electronic and solid state properties. Endohedral metallofullerenes are normally produced by DC electric arc discharge of metal/graphite composite rods used as positive electrodes. The metallofullerenes can also be produced by the so-called laser furnace method which incorporates laser vaporization of the composite rods under high temperature (ca 1000 • C). The endohedral metallofullerenes so far produced are centred on group 2 and 3 metallofullerenes such as Sc, Y, La, Ca, Sr and Ba as well as lanthanide metallofullerenes (Ce-Lu). These metal atoms have been encapsulated in higher fullerenes, especially in C 82 . These metallofullerenes have easily been extracted by solvents from primary soot. By using an elaborate high-performance liquid chromatography technique, the metallofullerenes are completely purified and isolated like C 60 and C 70 . Synchrotron x-ray diffraction, 13 C NMR and ultra-high vacuum scanning tunnelling microscopy (UHV-STM) studies have revealed that metal atoms are indeed encapsulated by the carbon cage and that the metal atoms are not in the centre of the fullerene cage but very close to the carbon cage, indicating the presence of a strong metal-cage interaction. It has been revealed by electron spin resonance and also by theoretical calculations that substantial electron transfers take place from the encaged metal atom to the carbon cage: intrafullerene electron transfers. Good examples are lanthanum and yttrium metallofullerenes which have the charge states of La 3+ @C 3− 82

Water-soluble gadolinium (Gd) endohedral metallofullerenes have been synthesized as polyhydroxyl forms (Gd@C(82)(OH)(n)(), Gd-fullerenols) and their paramagnetic properties were evaluated by in vivo as well as in vitro for the novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents for next generation. The in vitro water proton relaxivity, R(1) (the effect on 1/T(1)), of Gd-fullerenols is significantly higher (20-folds) than that of the commercial MRI contrast agent, Magnevist (gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, Gd-DTPA) at 1.0 T close to the common field of clinical MRI. This unusually high proton relaxivity of Gd-fullerenols leads to the highest signal enhancement at extremely lower Gd concentration in MRI studies. The strong signal was confirmed in vivo MRI at lung, liver, spleen, and kidney of CDF1 mice after i.v. administration of Gd-fullerenols at a dose of 5 micromol Gd/kg, which was 1/20 of the typical clinical dose (100 micromol Gd/kg) of Gd-DTPA.

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have the potential for widespread applications in engineering and materials science. However, because of their needle-like shape and high durability, concerns have been raised that MWCNTs may induce asbestos-like pathogenicity. Although recent studies have demonstrated that MWCNTs induce various types of reactivities, the physicochemical features of MWCNTs that determine their cytotoxicity and carcinogenicity in mesothelial cells remain unclear. Here, we showed that the deleterious effects of nonfunctionalized MWCNTs on human mesothelial cells were associated with their diameterdependent piercing of the cell membrane. Thin MWCNTs (diameter ∼ 50 nm) with high crystallinity showed mesothelial cell membrane piercing and cytotoxicity in vitro and subsequent inflammogenicity and mesotheliomagenicity in vivo. In contrast, thick (diameter ∼ 150 nm) or tangled (diameter ∼ 2-20 nm) MWCNTs were less toxic, inflammogenic, and carcinogenic. Thin and thick MWCNTs similarly affected macrophages. Mesotheliomas induced by MWCNTs shared homozygous deletion of Cdkn2a/2b tumor suppressor genes, similar to mesotheliomas induced by asbestos. Thus, we propose that different degrees of direct mesothelial injury by thin and thick MWCNTs are responsible for the extent of inflammogenicity and carcinogenicity. This work suggests that control of the diameter of MWCNTs could reduce the potential hazard to human health. environmental health | inflammation | nanotoxicology

Motivated by the technical and economic difficulties in further miniaturizing silicon-based transistors with the present fabrication technologies, there is a strong effort to develop alternative electronic devices, based, for example, on single molecules. Recently, carbon nanotubes have been successfully used for nanometre-sized devices such as diodes, transistors, and random access memory cells. Such nanotube devices are usually very long compared to silicon-based transistors. Here we report a method for dividing a semiconductor nanotube into multiple quantum dots with lengths of about 10nm by inserting Gd@C82 endohedral fullerenes. The spatial modulation of the nanotube electronic bandgap is observed with a low-temperature scanning tunnelling microscope. We find that a bandgap of approximately 0.5eV is narrowed down to approximately 0.1eV at sites where endohedral metallofullerenes are inserted. This change in bandgap can be explained by local elastic strain and charge transfer at metallofullerene sites. This technique for fabricating an array of quantum dots could be used for nano-electronics and nano-optoelectronics.

Electron microscope imaging for gadolinium metallofullerenes encapsulating in single-wall carbon nanotubes [(Gd@C82)n@SWNTs] identifies the single Gd atom encaged in each. The intermolecular distance between Gd@C82 is extremely regular, regarding the chains of Gd@C82 as novel one-dimensional crystals. Chemical state analysis of Gd atoms suggests evidence for charge transfer from Gd to either a fullerene cage or a nanotube. The slopes of the temperature dependence of electric resistance for the mat-like films of (Gd@C82)n@SWNTs and (C60)n@SWNTs are much steeper than that for empty SWNTs, suggesting the electron scattering due to the electrostatic potential from inside fullerenes playing an important role.

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Atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have attracted considerable interest owing to the spin-valley coupled electronic structure and possibility in next-generation devices. Substrates are one of the most important factors to limit physical properties of atomic-layer materials, and among various substrates so far investigated, hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is the best substrate to explore the intrinsic properties of atomic layers. Here we report direct chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth of WS2 onto high-quality hBN using a 3-furnace CVD setup. Triangular-shaped WS2 grown on hBN have shown limited crystallographic orientation that is related to that of the underlying hBN. Photoluminescence spectra of the WS2 show an intense emission peak at 2.01 eV with a quite small fwhm of 26 meV. The sharp emission peak indicates the high quality of the present WS2 atomic layers with high crystallinity and clean interface.