The electroreduction of “C 60” films in aqueous electrolyte does not lead to alkali metal ion insertion—Evidence for the involvement of adventitious poly-epoxidated C 60 (C 60O n)

Abstract

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 [M + n C 60 n− ] where M + 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 C 60O n with subsequent chemically irreversible loss of “O 2 −” as water, and that C 60 is not reduced within the potential windows of aqueous electrolytes.