Photo-assisted growth and polymerization of C60 ‘nano’whiskers

C60 nanowhiskers are grown by a liquid–liquid interfacial precipitation method at 21 °C. It is found that the growth of the nanowhiskers is promoted under illumination even with weak room light (fluorescent light). The maximum of their lengths exceeds 1 mm where the diameter is about 250 nm. From Raman scattering measurements, it is shown that C60 molecules in the pristine nanowhiskers are bonded by weak van der Waals forces. The nanowhiskers is easily polymerized under irradiation with laser light. The cross section for this photo-polymerization is much large compared with that for intrinsic C60 bulk crystals.