Fullerene C60 whiskers (FWs) doped with polyaniline emeraldine base (PANI-EB) were synthesized by mixing PANI-EB/N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) colloid and FWs suspension based on the nature of the electron acceptor of C60 and electron donor of PANI-EB. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectra characterized the morphology and molecular structure of the FWs doped with PANI-EB. SEM observation showed that the smooth surface of FWs was changed to worm-like surface morphology after being doped with PANI-EB. The UV-Vis spectra suggested that charge-transfer (CT) complex of C60 and PANI-EB was formed as PANI- - . PANI-EB-doped FWs might be useful as a new type of antibacterial and self-cleaning agent as well as multifunctional material to improve the human health and living environment. 1. Introduction Since the discovery of fullerenes (including buckminsterfullerene, C60), the physical and chemical properties of this new allotropic carbon form have been investigated extensively [1–3]. Recently, fullerene nanocrystal which is constructed by fullerene C60 attracts many researchers’ attention, because those special crystals not only own the property of fullerene C60 such as the nature of electron acceptor but also get the special dimension effect [4–8]. Fullerene C60 whiskers (FWs), among the crystals, catch special attentions and are widely studied in many fields, recognized its potential applications in solar cells, [9] catalysts carriers [10, 11], and so on. Quite recently, FWs have been studied together with other materials. For example, the embedment of potassium atom in fullerene cage could increase the conductivity of FWs dramatically [12]. In biochemical field, joint research of FWs and DNA exhibits potential bioanalytical applications [13]. Polyaniline (PANI), as a conducting polymer, has great potential for modification of molecular structure, undergoes a special proton doping mechanism, and has got enormous attentions since the early 1980s [14]. Excellent antibacterial performance of PANI against Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus microorganisms has been demonstrated under both dark and visible light conditions [15]. The electrostatic adherence interaction between the PANI molecules and the bacteria may play a very important role in the antibacterial reaction of the PANI. And in this perspective, FWs which are in micron scale could be used in preparing composites materials with large specific surface areas and micron dispersion with better antibacterial effect.
References
[1]
H. W. Kroto, J. R. Heath, S. C. O'Brien, R. F. Curl, and R. E. Smalley, “C60: buckminsterfullerene,” Nature, vol. 318, no. 6042, pp. 162–163, 1985.
[2]
W. Kratschmer, L. D. Lamb, K. Fostiropoulos, and D. R. Huffman, “Solid C60: a new form of carbon,” Nature, vol. 347, no. 6291, pp. 354–358, 1990.
[3]
H. W. Kroto, A. W. Allaf, and S. P. Balm, “C60: buckminsterfullerene,” Chemical Reviews, vol. 91, no. 6, pp. 1213–1235, 1991.
[4]
L. Wang, B. Liu, D. Liu et al., “Synthesis of thin, rectangular C60 nanorods using m-xylene as a shape controller,” Advanced Materials, vol. 18, no. 14, pp. 1883–1888, 2006.
[5]
M. Sathish, K. Miyazawa, J. P. Hill, and K. Ariga, “Solvent engineering for shape-shifter pure fullerene (C60),” Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 131, no. 18, pp. 6372–6373, 2009.
[6]
K. Miyazawa, J.-I. Minato, T. Yoshii, M. Fujino, and T. Suga, “Structural characterization of the fullerene nanotubes prepared by the liquid-liquid interfacial precipitation method,” Journal of Materials Research, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 688–695, 2005.
[7]
M. Sathish and K. Miyazawa, “Size-tunable hexagonal fullerene (C60) nanosheets at the liquid-liquid interface,” Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 129, no. 45, pp. 13816–13817, 2007.
[8]
B. Z. Wang, X. Gao, and G. Z. Piao, “Fabrication of C60 fullerene nanofibers by volatile diffusion method,” Journal of Nanomaterials, vol. 2013, Article ID 646040, 5 pages, 2013.
[9]
P. R. Somani, S. P. Somani, and M. Umeno, “Toward organic thick film solar cells: three dimensional bulk heterojunction organic thick film solar cell using fullerene single crystal nanorods,” Applied Physics Letters, vol. 91, no. 17, Article ID 173503, 2007.
[10]
K. Miyazawa and C. Ringor, “Platinum chloride deposition into C60 nanotubes,” Materials Letters, vol. 62, no. 3, pp. 410–413, 2008.
[11]
M. Sathish, K. Miyazawa, and T. Sasaki, “Preparation and characterization of Ni incorporated fullerene nanowhiskers,” Diamond and Related Materials, vol. 17, no. 4-5, pp. 571–575, 2008.
[12]
H. Takeya, K. Miyazawa, and R. Kato, “Superconducting fullerene nanowhiskers,” Molecules, vol. 17, pp. 4851–4859, 2012.
[13]
X. Zhang, Y. Qu, G. Piao, J. Zhao, and K. Jiao, “Reduced working electrode based on fullerene C60 nanotubes at DNA: characterization and application,” Materials Science and Engineering B, vol. 175, no. 2, pp. 159–163, 2010.
[14]
M. X. Wan, “Some issues related to polyaniline micro-/nanostructures,” Macromolecular Rapid Communications, vol. 30, no. 12, pp. 963–975, 2009.
[15]
N. Shi, X. Guo, H. Jing, J. Gong, C. Sun, and K. Yang, “Antibacterial effect of the conducting polyaniline,” Journal of Materials Science and Technology, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 289–290, 2006.
[16]
C. Giusca, M. Baibarac, S. Lefrant et al., “C60-polymer nanocomposites: evidence for interface interaction,” Carbon, vol. 40, no. 9, pp. 1565–1574, 2002.
[17]
N. M. Kocherginsky and Z. Wang, “Transmembrane redox reactions through polyaniline membrane doped with fullerene C60,” Synthetic Metals, vol. 156, no. 7-8, pp. 558–565, 2006.
[18]
Y. Wei, J. Tian, A. G. MacDiarmid, J. G. Masters, A. L. Smith, and D. Li, “Preparation and conductivities of fullerene-doped polyanilines,” Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications, no. 7, pp. 603–604, 1993.
[19]
F. Yilmaz and Z. Kü？ükyavuz, “Solution properties of polyaniline,” Polymer International, vol. 59, pp. 552–556, 2010.
[20]
K. Miyazawa, Y. Kuwasaki, A. Obayashi, and M. Kuwabara, “C60 nanowhiskers formed by the liquid-liquid interfacial precipitation method,” Journal of Materials Research, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 83–88, 2002.
[21]
R. G. Alargova, S. Deguchi, and K. Tsujii, “Stable colloidal dispersions of fullerenes in polar organic solvents,” Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 123, no. 43, pp. 10460–10467, 2001.
[22]
B. Mayers and Y. Xia, “Formation of tellurium nanotubes through concentration depletion at the surfaces of seeds,” Advanced Materials, vol. 14, pp. 279–282, 2002.
[23]
A. D. Bokare and A. Patnaik, “C60 aggregate structure and geometry in nonpolar o-xylene,” Journal of Physical Chemistry B, vol. 109, no. 1, pp. 87–92, 2005.
[24]
I. Sapurina, M. Mokeev, V. Lavrentev et al., “Polyaniline complex with fullerene C60,” European Polymer Journal, vol. 36, no. 11, pp. 2321–2326, 2000.
[25]
J. Jeong, S. H. Lee, N. W. Song, C. S. Lee, and B. H. Chung, “Functionalization of fullerene nanowhiskers using pyrenebutanoic acid, succinimidyl ester in an aqueous solution,” Carbon, vol. 47, no. 8, pp. 2124–2127, 2009.
[26]
S. Bhadra and D. Khastgir, “Determination of crystal structure of polyaniline and substituted polyanilines through powder X-ray diffraction analysis,” Polymer Testing, vol. 27, no. 7, pp. 851–857, 2008.
[27]
Q. Wang, S. Wang, J. Li, and H. Moriyama, “Synthesis of C60-doped polyaniline nanoshuttles,” Advanced Materials Research, vol. 284, pp. 1010–1013, 2011.
[28]
M. Baibarac, I. Baltog, S. Lefrant, J. Y. Mevellec, and O. Chauvet, “Polyaniline and carbon nanotubes based composites containing whole units and fragments of nanotubes,” Chemistry of Materials, vol. 15, no. 21, pp. 4149–4156, 2003.
