Highly Enhanced Luminescence from Single-Crystalline C₆₀·1m-xylene Nanorods

Single-crystalline C 60 ·1 m -xylene nanorods with a hexagonal structure were successfully synthesized by evaporating a C 60 solution in m -xylene at room temperature. The ratio of the length to the diameter of the nanorods can be controlled in the range of ≈10 to over 1000 for different applications. The photoluminescence (PL) intensity of the nanorods is about 2 orders of magnitude higher than that for pristine C 60 crystals in air. Both UV and Raman results indicate that there is no charge transfer between C 60 and m -xylene. It was found that the interaction between C 60 and m -xylene molecules is of the van der Waals type. This interaction reduces the icosahedral symmetry of C 60 molecule and induces strong PL from the solvate nanorods.