Process for the synthesis of fullerenes
First Claim
1. A process for the synthesis of fullerenes which comprises:
- a) feeding a plasma forming gas into a reactor and generating a plasma of said plasma forming gas within said reactor in the form of a plasma flame, said plasma forming gas consisting essentially of a carbon and halogen containing gas selected from the group-consisting of a carbon halide gas, a mixture of a carbon halide gas and a halogen gas, a mixture of a hydrocarbon gas and a halogen gas, a mixture of a hydrocarbon gas and a carbon halide gas, and a mixture of a hydrocarbon gas, a carbon halide gas and a halogen gas,b) dissociating said plasma forming gas in said plasma flame into carbon and halogen atoms produced in the form of a cloud; and
thenc) allowing substantially all of the carbon atoms in said cloud to recombine and condense as soot on a surface outside of said plasma flame, said soot containing the fullerenes being formed from essentially only the carbon and halogen containing gas.
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Abstract
A process is disclosed to synthesize fullerenes in a plasma reactor. It comprises introducing various amounts of carbon halides as the plasma forming gas in a plasma torch capable of producing a high enough temperature flame to dissociate the carbon bearing molecules into carbon and halogen atoms, hence forming a carbon cloud which condenses into a soot containing fullerenes. Also hydrocarbons can be introduced in the torch as the plasma forming gas and reacted with carbon halides or halogens injected therewith or directly into the plasma flame at the exit of the torch. Moreover, an inert gas, such as helium, may also be used as the plasma forming gas. The process can use a high enthalpy non-transferred d.c. plasma torch or an induction plasma torch as the plasma generating device.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A process for the synthesis of fullerenes which comprises:
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a) feeding a plasma forming gas into a reactor and generating a plasma of said plasma forming gas within said reactor in the form of a plasma flame, said plasma forming gas consisting essentially of a carbon and halogen containing gas selected from the group-consisting of a carbon halide gas, a mixture of a carbon halide gas and a halogen gas, a mixture of a hydrocarbon gas and a halogen gas, a mixture of a hydrocarbon gas and a carbon halide gas, and a mixture of a hydrocarbon gas, a carbon halide gas and a halogen gas, b) dissociating said plasma forming gas in said plasma flame into carbon and halogen atoms produced in the form of a cloud; and
thenc) allowing substantially all of the carbon atoms in said cloud to recombine and condense as soot on a surface outside of said plasma flame, said soot containing the fullerenes being formed from essentially only the carbon and halogen containing gas. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A process for the synthesis of fullerenes which comprises:
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a) feeding a plasma forming gas into a reactor and generating a plasma of said plasma forming gas within said reactor in the form of a plasma flame, said plasma forming gas consisting essentially of a gas selected from the group consisting of a hydrocarbon gas and a mixture of a hydrocarbon gas and an inert gas; b) feeding a halogen containing gas into said reactor, said halogen containing gas consisting essentially of a gas selected from the group consisting of a halogen gas, a carbon halide gas, a mixture of a halogen gas and a carbon halide gas, a mixture of a halogen gas and an inert gas, a mixture of a carbon halide gas and an inert gas, and a mixture of a halogen gas, a carbon halide gas and an inert gas, c) dissociating said plasma forming gas and said halogen containing gas in said plasma flame into carbon and halogen atoms produced in the form of a cloud; and
thend) allowing substantially all of the carbon atoms in said cloud to recombine and condense as soot on a surface outside of said plasma flame, said soot containing the fullerenes being formed from essentially only the carbon and halogen containing gas. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A process for the synthesis of fullerenes which comprises:
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a) feeding a plasma forming gas consisting essentially of an inert gas into a reactor and generating a plasma of said plasma forming gas within said reactor in the form of a plasma flame; b) injecting a carbon and halogen containing gas into said plasma flame, said carbon and halogen containing gas consisting essentially of a gas selected from the group consisting of a carbon halide gas, a mixture of a carbon halide gas and a halogen gas, a mixture of a hydrocarbon gas and a halogen gas, a mixture of a hydrocarbon gas and a carbon halide gas, and a mixture of a hydrocarbon gas, a carbon halide gas and a halogen gas; c) dissociating said carbon and halogen containing gas in said plasma flame into carbon and halogen atoms produced in the form of a cloud; and
thend) allowing substantially all of the carbon atoms in said cloud to recombine and condense as soot on a surface outside of said plasma flame, said soot containing the fullerenes being formed from essentially only the carbon and halogen containing gas. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification