Using Hansen solubility parameters to correlate solubility of C60 fullerene in organic solvents and in polymers Original Research Article

The solubility of C60 Fullerene has been correlated with Hansen solubility parameters (HSP) in a database of 89 organic solvents. The parameters δD, δP, and δH for C60 were determined as 19.7, 2.9, and 2.7, respectively, with units MPa1/2. These parameters are indicative of an essentially nonpolar solid, and have been used to identify 55 additional predicted good solvents for C60. Under the assumption that polymers with similar HSP to C60 itself will show enhanced compatibility with C60, 30 polymers that have the highest predicted solubility affinity for C60 have been selected from a HSP database of polymeric materials. There is a tendency for those polymers with greatest affinity for C60 to have the same types of functional groups as the better solvents. These include aromatic rings and atoms significantly larger than carbon, such as chlorine and sulfur.