Fullerene Polymers: Synthetic Strategies, Properties and Applications

Abstract

A general overview of the different C 60 ‐containing polymers according to their chemical structure and the general synthetic routes followed for their preparation as well as their potential applications is presented. The many fullerene‐containing polymers reported in the recent literature have been classified depending upon the position of the fullerenes within the polymer chain and considering the type of chemical connectivity between them. The combination of fullerenes and polymer chemistry is a new interdisciplinary field in which all the knowledge on the synthesis and study of natural, as well as artificial macromolecules, can be applied to fullerenes to achieve novel fullerene‐based architectures. The combination of the unique properties of C 60 with the characteristics of well‐known polymers, often allow chemists to create new materials with combined features. In some cases, novel unprecedented properties open the doors to new realistic applications. In this article, a general overview of the different types of C 60 ‐containing polymers according to their chemical structure and the consideration of their general synthetic routes as well as their plausible applications is given. The aim of this work is to establish a classification of the many fullerene‐containing polymers reported in the literature in order to clarify the field for all those chemists interested in the topic. Nevertheless to say that not all the examples known are covered, but those more representative or appealing for the authors. For a more comprehensive presentation the readers are referred to a recent review on the same topic.

The Triumph of the Spin Chemistry of Fullerene C60 in the Light of Its Free Radical Copolymerization with Vinyl Monomers

“…Although a great deal of radical chemistry has been carried out, the theory has so far left aside such an important chemical process as free radical polymerization of organic monomers [38]. These amazing polymers, victors and winners in the fierce intermolecular competition of numerous radical products, turned out to be very sensitive to the presence of C 60 fullerene in the relevant reaction solutions (RSs) [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58]. The feature irrefutably evidences the radical nature of this fullerene, on the one hand, and gives rise to the temptation to test to what extent the spin theory of fullerene is capable of providing a self-consistent description of the numerous nuances of this process, on the other.…”

“…This concerns rigorous studies of the kinetics of the initial stage of the FRP of vinyl monomers in the presence of the C 60 fullerene, sometimes mentioned as free radical copolymerization (FRCP) of vinyl monomers with the fullerene. A large amount of empirical data related to the FRP of vinyl monomers as well as to their FRCP with TEMPO and C 60 fullerene [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58] make it possible to offer a systematic view of this chemical process, presented in several graphs in Figure 5. The figure accumulates empirical data related to the time-dependent percentage conversion 𝑥(𝑡) of a monomer that well represents the kinetics of the initial stage of the FRP of vinyl monomers and their FRCP with fullerene C60 and TEMPO, while being initiated with either 𝐴𝐼𝐵𝑁 ⦁ or 𝐵𝑃 ⦁ free radicals [56][57][58].…”

“…It would be logical to introduce a VRS as a source of the relevant DTs in each case under study. A large amount of empirical data related to the FRP of vinyl monomers [38,102] as well to their FRCP with TEMPO and C 60 fullerene [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58]103] greatly facilitates the VRS design.…”