Organic non-wettable superhydrophobic fullerite films

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12466735-B2
Application number	US-202217975051-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 27, 2022
Priority date	Oct 27, 2021
Publication date	Nov 11, 2025
Grant date	Nov 11, 2025

Abstract

A method of producing an organic non-wettable superhydrophobic fullerite film is presented. Non-wettable superhydrophobic fullerite films can be easily produced by growing nanofullerites via a sonication coupled crystallization protocol followed by multiple washings to obtain a pellet of nanofullerites. The pellet is aged for at least several weeks to allow for agglomeration into a gel which may then be applied to a substrate as a non-wettable superhydrophobic fullerite film.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of producing a superhydrophobic fullerite film having a superhydrophobic surface, the method comprising:
growing nanofullerites using a sonication coupled crystallization procedure; aging the nano-fullerites for at least three weeks to form a colloidal gel; and depositing the colloidal gel onto a substrate by drop-casting to form the superhydrophobic fullerite film wherein the method is performed in the absence of any fluorination or silane surface treatment.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the sonication coupled crystallization procedure comprises the steps of:
dissolving an amount of a fullerene powder in a solvent to form a solution; sonicating the solution with an antisolvent to induce crystallization; washing the solution with fresh antisolvent to form a suspension; centrifuging the suspension; and separating supernatant from the suspension to leave a pellet of nano-fullerites.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the solvent is an organic solvent of fullerenes.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the solvent is selected from the group consisting of carbon disulfide, toluene, xylenes, and dichlorobenzene.

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the antisolvent is an alcohol.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the alcohol is selected from the group consisting of isopropyl alcohol, methanol, and butanol.

7 . A method of producing a superhydrophobic fullerite large area coating comprising:
growing nano-fullerites using a sonication coupled crystallization procedure; aging the nano-fullerites for at least three weeks to form a colloidal gel; depositing the colloidal gel onto a substrate by drop-casting; and scaling the colloidal gel into a paste to form the superhydrophobic fullerite large area coating; wherein the method is performed in the absence of any fluorination or silane surface treatment.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the sonication coupled crystallization procedure comprises the steps of:
dissolving an amount of a fullerene powder in a solvent to form a solution; sonicating the solution with an antisolvent to induce crystallization; washing the solution with fresh antisolvent to form a suspension; centrifuging the suspension; and decanting supernatant from the suspension leaving a pellet of nano-fullerites.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the solvent is selected from the group consisting of carbon disulfide, toluene, xylenes, and dichlorobenzene.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the antisolvent is an alcohol.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the alcohol is selected from the group consisting of isopropyl alcohol, methanol, and butanol.

Assignees

• Univ Central Florida Res Found Inc

Inventors

• Chanda Debashis
• Saran Rinku

Classifications

• C01B32/154 Primary

  Preparation · CPC title

• B82Y30/00

  Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites · CPC title

• B82Y40/00

  Manufacture or treatment of nanostructures · CPC title

• C01B32/156 Primary

  After-treatment · CPC title