Fullerene-based materials as new support media in heterogeneous catalysis by metals

This short review presents some possible applications of fullerenes-based materials as new potential carbon-support media in heterogeneous catalysis by supported metals. After a general presentation of some applications in both, homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, a brief description of the synthesis and some properties of the fullerene-compounds family is given: the C-60 molecular compound, the single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWT) and the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWT). The applications of (i) C-60-, (ii) SWT-, and (iii) MWT-based catalytic materials are then presented in more details. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.