Characterizing Photochemical Transformation of Aqueous nC60 under Environmentally Relevant Conditions

Engineered nanomaterials may undergo transformation upon interactions with various environmental factors. In this study, photochemical transformation of aqueous nC(60) was investigated under UVA irradiation. nC(60) underwent photochemical transformation in the presence of dissolved O-2, resulting in surface oxygenation and hydroxylation as demonstrated by XPS and ATR-FTIR analyses. The reaction followed a pseudo-first order rate law with the apparent reaction rate constant of 2.2 x 10(-2) h(-1). However, the core of the nanoparticles remained intact over 21 days of irradiation. Although no mineralization or dissolution of nC(60) was observed, experiments using fullerol as a reference fullerene derivative suggested likely dissolution and partial mineralization of nC(60) under long-term UVA exposure. Aquatic humic acid reduced nC(60) transformation kinetics presumably due to scavenging of reactive oxygen species. Results from this study imply that photochemical transformation is an important factor controlling nC(60) physical and chemical properties as well as its fate and transport in the natural aqueous environment. In addition, changes in nC(60) surface chemistry drastically reduced C-60 extraction efficiency by toluene, suggesting that the existing analytical method for C-60 may not be applicable to environmental samples.