On the Action of Ultraviolet Light on C70 Fullerene

Abstract C70 was photopolymerized in solution of CCl4 under nitrogen flow by an high pressure mercury lamp. The resulting photoproduct was still soluble in common solvents and has been studied by electronic and FT-IR spectroscopy. FT-IR spectroscopy reveals a very peculiar band pattern never reported to date for C70 photoproduct. Since this band pattern is very similar to that of C60 photopolymer, it suggests that C70 photoproduct should have a chemical structure very close to that assigned to C60 photopolymer and piezopolymer. The role played by CCl4 in C70 photopolymerization seems to be comparable to that already reported for C60, i.e. it acts as a polymerization promoter.