ABSTRACT
Fullerenes are highly colored materials, naturally attracting the attention of molecular spectroscopists and photochemists. Electronic absorption and emission properties of fullerenes have been investigated extensively. Since large quantities of fullerenes became readily available, there has been great scientific interest in the understanding of their properties. Photophysical properties of fullerenes are significantly changed upon the formation of stable aggregates in room-temperature binary solvent mixtures. The early examples for the high electron affinity of fullerenes include efficient nucleophilic addition reactions of fullerenes with electron donors such as primary and secondary amines. The linking of fullerene molecules inside the clusters likely occurs through photoinduced cycloaddition reactions in the excited triplet states of the fullerenes. Studies of polymer-based fullerene materials have been centered on systems in which fullerene molecules are blended into polymer hosts. Fullerene-styrene copolymers have been prepared in radical initiated and thermal polymerization reactions.
