ANALYSIS OF C-60 AND C-70 FULLERENES BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

Some common solvents were roughly classified into four classes according to their decreasing solubility for fullerenes. Good solvents should be used in designing a practical liquid chromatographic separation method. Several stationary phases were tested to separate C60 and C70 fullerenes. They included ODS-, C6H5-, NH2- and CN-silica, silica gel and three synthesized ones containing mono-/di- nitrobenzamidopropyl functionalities. All the stationary phases studied, with the exception of silica gel, had some retention and separation capability for C60 and C70 fullerenes. The three nitrobenzamidopropyl group-containing packings showed more pronounced retention and were capable of being used with good solvent added in the mobile phase. 3,5-Dinitrobenzamidopropyl chemically bonded phase, the most retentive packing, was used as stationary phase in HPLC for the analysis of C60 and C70 fullerenes. It was shown that with toluene-light petroleum as mobile phase this method was rapid and accurate.