Aqueous photochemistry of fullerol revisited: Energy transfer vs. electron transfer processes probed by Rhodamine B degradation

Abstract

Singlet oxygen, superoxide radicals and hydroxyl radicals generated by fullerol under irradiation were unambiguously identified by spin-trapping electron paramagnetic resonance technology. Comparing the photodegradation of a chemical probe of Rhodamine B by fullerol, Rose Bengal, and Fenton reaction systems demonstrated that different reactive oxygen species led to two competitive processes: cleavage of the dye skeleton by hydroxyl radicals and N-de-ethylation of the dye by singlet oxygen, which indicates that the degradation pathways of organics by irradiated fullerol depend on the competitive energy transfer and electron transfer processes.