Microstructural Characterization of Large Area C 60 Films Obtained by Conventional Microwave Oven Irradiation

Abstract

In the present work the synthesis of C60 produced in a conventional microwave oven from the decomposition of camphor resin is reported. The polycrystalline structure of the sample was determined by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), the sample showed several phases, the main phase corresponds to fullerene C60 ordered in a Face-Centered Cubic structure (FCC), with two more structures: one orthorhombic system and the other the monoclinic system coexisting also with graphite 2H phase. It was observed in a Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), that the sample formed thin films of stacked carbon. Whereas in a High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), measurements in Bright Field mode revealed that the main phase of the material is C60 ordered in FCC structure and the elemental composition and atomic bonding state can be determined by analyzing the energy with the electron microscope by Elesctron Energy- Loss Spectroscopy (EELS), technique allowed confirm all the phase C60 established with XRD observations.