Preparation and optical limiting properties of polycarbonates containing fullerene unit

Polycarbonates (PCs) convalently linked 1,2-(1′,1′,2′,2′-tetracyanomethanoxymethano)[60]fullerene (TCNEO-C60) and N-methyl-pyrrolidino[60]fullerene (MPYLD-C60) with interesting optical limiting behavior are obtained by direct reaction of PC with TCNEO-C60 and MPYLD-C60, respectively, using AlCl3 as catalyst. The electron-accepting ability of TCNEO-C60 (acceptor-C60) is stronger than that of C60 and MPYLD-C60, and TCNEO-C60–PCs limit strong 532 nm optical pulses more effectively than C60–PC and MPYLD-C60–PC. This suggests that increasing the electron-accepting ability of fullerene will be effective in improving the optical limiting properties of PC containing fullerene unit.