Solar generation of the fullerenes

Fullerenes have been produced efficiently by direct vaporization of carbon in focused sunlight. Large-scale solar furnace implementations of this simple process may be uniquely capable of producing fullerenes and doped fullerenes in large amounts while avoiding the yield-limiting problems encountered with carbon arcs or plasmas. Evidence is presented that the worst of these problems is photochemical destruction of the fullerenes in the light from the arc. Solar furnaces can mitigate this problem both by avoiding the intense ultraviolet radiation associated with arcs and by preventing clustering of the carbon vapor until it passes into a relatively dark cluster formation and annealing zone. 21 refs., 4 figs.