The electroreduction of C60 films in aqueous electrolyte does not lead to alkali metal ion insertion-Evidence for the involvement of adventitious poly-epoxidated C60 (C60On)

In this letter, we present experimental data which challenges the model proposed since the mid-1990s that the reduction of C-60 films in aqueous electrolytes involves the formation of [Mn+C60n-] where M-center dot represents a metal cation or proton. Instead we provide voltammetric, XPS and UV-vis evidence that the reduction of C-60 films in aqueous media is instead the reduction of adventitious poly-epoxidated C60On With subsequent chemically irreversible loss of O-2 as water, and that C-60 is not reduced within tire potential windows of aqueous electrolytes. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.