Aggregates of polymer-substituted fullerenes

We analyzed the self-organized supermolecular architectures observed in solutions of singly polymer-substituted fullerenes by light-scattering and fluorescence spectroscopy, as well as the surface pattern obtained from spraying the solution by atomic force microscopy. We found that the concentration dependence on aggregate size and fluorescence intensity can be explained quantitatively using a scaling argument, assuming that the aggregates in solution are self-emulsified micelles. Our results indicate that the core of the structure is unreacted fullerenes. Based on our scaling arguments, we predict that there is a critical molecular weight that allows for a narrow distribution of the self-assembled structures in solution.