COMPARISON OF THE EFFICIENCY OF THE LASER PHOTOLYSIS OF C-60 AND C-70 FULLERENES IN SOLUTION

The efficiencies of the decomposition of two of the commonest fullerenes, C-60 and C-70, induced in solution by irradiation with an XeCl (lambda=308 nm) or ArF (lambda=193 nm) excimer laser are compared, It was found that when a solution containing a mixture of C-60 and C-70 fullerenes in n-hexane is irradiated with an XeCl laser, the ratio of the concentrations of the undecomposed clusters C-60/C-70 increases with irradiation time. Thus, C-70 is decomposed more efficiently than C-60 under these conditions. However, experiments carried out under other conditions (ArF excimer laser, toluene solutions, bubbling of solutions with an inert gas or oxygen) did not exhibit this effect.