Combustion synthesis of fullerenes

We report the isolation of C 60 and C 70 from combustion soot that is produced in high-temperature, low-pressure premixed flat flames. A critical parameter for high fullerene yields in combustion appears to be a very high flame temperature. Equilibrium calculations indicate that low pressures are important, but the experimental evidence is not clear at this time. Combustion synthesis yields fullerenes with a C 70/C 60 ratio of about 40%, as compared with the 12% reported for electric-arc-generated fullerenes. The overall yields from carbon are very low (ca. 0.03%) but the soot studied had been produced in flames that were in no way optimized for fullerene production.