LAUSR

Abstract Fullerene and its derivative fullerenol are in high demand for catalytic, electronic and biomedical applications. Here fullerenol with an estimated average structure of C60(OH)28·12H2O has been synthesized by a facile and scalable hydroxylation method, and distinctly, a modified purification and drying process which is hazard-free and cost-effective was employed using benzoylated dialysis tubing and lyophilizing to obtain highly pure fullerenol with high yield. More interestingly, the as-synthesized fullerenol to semi-purified fullerenol after dialysis for four days and then to fully purified fullerenol showed morphostructural transition from small and non-uniform flakes to sphere and then to perfect uniform flakes. The purified fullerenol shows tunable photoluminescence emission from violet-blue to yellowish-orange to red as we change the excitation wavelength from 240 → 285 → 350 nm. With superior optical and electronic properties, it can be made into various composites with other materials to design and develop different optoelectronic devices.