Quantum Confinement Effect of Fullerenes in Silica Aerogel

Fullerenes (C-60/C-70) were encased in silica aerogel by sol-gel process followed by supercritical drying technique. Visible light emission was observed from the composite under Ar+ laser (488 nm) excitation at room temperature. The luminescent intensity was found to decrease whilst being red shift with the increase of the fullerene content in the composite (from 0.05 up to 2.5 mol%). This can be interpreted with quantum confinement effect of fullerenes confined in networks of the nanoporous silica aerogel.