Size analysis of single fullerene molecules by electron microscopy Original Research Article

Individual fullerene molecules were observed and sized using high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Fullerene C60 molecules were tethered by chemical bonding to carbon black particles to facilitate HRTEM imaging and sizing of known fullerenes. HRTEM analysis of soot samples from a fullerene-forming flame revealed the presence of a range of fullerenes from C36 to C176 and larger fullerene-like structures. The observation of fullerenes smaller than C60 is noteworthy in that such structures necessarily contain adjacent pentagons and hence are strained and expected to have interesting reactivity that may be useful in certain applications. HRTEM can be used to detect and size fullerenes in samples containing fullerenes but not in sufficient quantity, or not sufficiently removable, to be detectable by chemical analysis.