Spherical bilayer vesicles of fullerene-based surfactants in water: A laser light scattering study

The low solubility of fullerenes in aqueous solution Limits their applicati ons in biology. By appropriate substitution, the fullerenes can be transfor med into stabilized anions that are water soluble and can form targe aggreg ated structures. A Laser light scattering study of the association behavior of the potassium salt of pentaphenyl fullerene (Ph5C60K) in water revealed that the hydrocarbon anions Ph5C60- associate into bilayers, forming stabl e spherical vesicles with an average hydrodynamic radius and a radius of gy ration of about 17 nanometers at a very Low critical aggregation concentrat ion of Less than 10(-7) moles per Liter. The average aggregation number of associated particles in these large spherical Vesicles is about 1.2 x 10(4) .