Covalent incorporation of an alkoxysilyl-substituted [60]fullerene derivative in sol-gel matrices

Abstract

A [60]fullerene adduct bearing a reactive triethoxysilyl functional group has been synthesized. The high solubility of this adduct in polar solvents enables its covalent incorporation into a sol-gel silica matrix. In comparison to the conventional admixing of ‘naked’ fullerene to silica sols, this approach has the following distinct advantages: (i) even with an adduct content of up to 2 wt% (related to SiO ₂ ), the reaction mixture remains homogeneous during the entire sol-gel process, and (ii) the covalently attached fullerene adduct is fixed in the silica matrix and therefore cannot migrate.