The confinement of buckminsterfullerene in one-dimensional channels

Buckminsterfullerene, C60, has been successfully incorporated into the one-dimensional channels of the microporous aluminophosphate VPI-5, as shown by X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, NMR and IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and luminescence, which all portray a consistent picture that the C60 is incorporated within the channels of the material rather than on the external surfaces of the crystals; this is the first example of the organisation of C60 in a one-dimensional array.