Fullerene-Polyhedral Oligosilsesquioxane Organic-Inorganic Hybrids and Applications as a Nanolayered Supercapacitor

Fullerenes and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) organic-inorganic hybrid material was synthesized by esterification of methano[60]fullerene carboxylic acid (MFCA) with POSS-OH. The chemical structure was characterized and proven by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), SEC and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The material has high solubility (more than 10{\%}) in solvents like toluene, THF, chloroform and hexane. The material has high thermal stability: only 1{\%} of total mass lost at 350 \r{ }C and 50{\%} at 800 \r{ }C. At high concentrations, the solution of fullerene-POSS can absorb nearly the full spectra of the UV-Vis region (200 nm-700 nm). Crystals can be grown from chloroform solution, and the crystal structure was determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and x-ray diffraction as an orthorhombic structure with a = 2.10 nm, b = 1.06 nm and c = 3.71 nm. This indicates a bilayer structure. The alternating layered structure of fullerene (conductive) and POSS (insulating) in the crystal can be used for applications such as supercapacitors.