Abstracts Book - IMRC 2018

• SA1-O030
MOLECULAR ENCAPSULATION IN VARIABLE DIAMETER CARBON
NANOSCROLLS
Izcoatl Saucedo Orozco 1 , Mildred Quintana 1,2
1 Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Materiales Nanoestructurados, Mexico.
2
Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Centro de Investigación en Ciencias de la Salud y
Biomedicina, Mexico.
There are a number of possible applications of encapsulated molecules in
carbon nanostructures, for example drug delivery vectors, DNA and proteins
purification, vaccines and energy harvesting and storage. The molecular
encapsulation in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) presents the disadvantage that only
specific sizes of particles or molecules can be placed into the inner tube avoiding
the encapsulation species larger than the cavity diameter. In this work, we report
on the formation of nanoscrolls by ultrasonication of graphite in N,N-
Dimethylformamide (DMF) upon the addition of fullerene (C60) or benzyl
aldehyde. Our experimental results on the encapsulation of the symmetric C60
inside monolayer or few layer graphene (FLG) generate nanoscrolls with
different diameters and configurations, while in the presence of benzyl aldehyde
smaller and defective scrolls are formed. Different scrolls size distributions have
been found under different experimental conditions, demonstrating that this
methodology can be used for molecular encapsulation using the prominent
physical characteristics of graphene sheets. In contrast to CNTs, in nanoscrolls
produced by single layer graphene or FLG, the internal cavities can be size tuned
by the adsorbed molecule and the rolling distribution. Experimental
observations are supported by molecular dynamics (AIREBO-LAMMPS)
modelling between the fullerene and graphene interaction.
Keywords: Graphene, scrolls, encapsulation
Presenting authors email: izcoatlsaucedo@gmail.com