High pressure Raman study of C60S16

An in situ high pressure study of C60S16 has shown that C60 molecules in this compound polymerise similar to the pure C60. However, the spectrum of the C60S16 exhibited much sharper peaks. The sharper peaks can be explained by better ordering of the C60 polymerisation within C60S16. Such ordering is achieved because of the layered structure of the C60S16 where the sulfur rings prevent polymerisation in the c-direction. The disappearance of the peaks from S8 rings and the observation of new peaks suggest that the sulfur rings are broken at higher pressures and that covalent C–S bonds therefore may be formed. The quenched sample also show some similarities to C60O suggesting that at least parts of the sample consists of C60S.