Multilayer vesicles and vesicle clusters formed by the fullerene-based surfactant C60(CH3)5K

The self-assembly behavior of a fullerene-based surfactant, C-60(CH3)(5)K, in water was studied using a combination of static and dynamic light scattering, as well as transmission electron microscopy, and compared to that of the compound C-60(C6H5)(5)K. Both fullerene surfactant systems spontaneously assemble into large vesicles consisting of closed spherical shells formed by bilayers, with critical aggregation concentrations (CAC) lower than 10(-6) g ml(-1). At low concentrations, the aggregate sizes Of C-60(CH3)(5)K (radius R similar to 26.8 nm) and C-60(C6H5)(5)K (R similar to 17.0 nm) were found to be substantially different from each other, showing that the change of the substituents surrounding the polar cyclopentadienide head group makes it possible to control the size of the resulting aggregates. Furthermore, the C-60(CH3)(5)K vesicles were found to exist in two qualitatively different types of aggregation with a critical reaggregation concentration (CRC) located at 3.30 x 10(-6) g ml(-1). Above the CRC, larger aggregates were observed (R similar to 37.6 nm), showing a more complex form of supramolecular aggregation, e.g., in terms of multi-bilayer vesicles and/or of clusters of bilayer vesicles. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.