A water soluble methanofullerene derivative: synthesis, micellar aggregation in aqueous solutions, and incorporation in sol-gel glasses for optical limiting applications

Amphiphilic methanofullerene derivative 1 is water soluble and micellar agg regation has been evidenced by small-angle X-ray scattering measurements an d UV/Vis spectroscopy. Thanks to the high solubility of 1 in polar solvents widely used in sol-gel processing, successful inclusion of 1 in the sol-ge l could be easily achieved. The optical limiting properties of the doped so l-gel samples have been evaluated and a fast S-1-S-0 relaxation has been ob served for these samples. This observation appears to be consistent with th e presence of micellar aggregates of 1 in the sol-gel. Indeed, the interact ions between the fullerene spheres of neighbouring molecules in the cluster s may be at the origin of this fast S-1-S-0 relaxation as already shown in solid C-60-films.