Incorporation of C₆₀ in Layered Double Hydroxide

C₆₀ molecules were incorporated into the interlayer of a layered Mg/Al double hydroxide compound, and the physicochemical properties of these spherical molecules arranged in two-dimensional arrays were examined. The precursor used was a double hydroxide with dodecyl sulfate counteranions. C₆₀ molecules were introduced by dissolving the molecules into the interlayer hydrophobic phase. After heating the resultant compound under vacuum to decompose the dodecyl sulfate, C₆₀ molecules were sandwiched in between the double hydroxide layers. The C₆₀-incorporated compounds were characterized with X-ray diffraction, thermal gravimetric analysis, and Raman, UV-vis, and solid state NMR spectroscopies. Among them, the most powerful technique to identify the environment of C₆₀ was solid state ¹³C NMR, The results of T₁ relaxation time and fwhm line width measurement showed that the incorporated C₆₀ molecules did not rotate as freely as in the pure solid form and experienced rather intimate interactions with either the interlayer proton-containing species or the lattice atoms.