Highly enhanced luminescence from single-crystalline C60.1m-xylene nanorods

Single-crystalline C60·1w-xylene nanorods with a hexagonal structure were successfully synthesized by evaporating a C 60 solution in m-xylene at room temperature. The ratio of the length to the diameter of the nanorods can be controlled in the range of ?10 to over 1000 for different applications. The photoluminescence (PL) intensity of the nanorods is about 2 orders of magnitude higher than that for pristine C 60 crystals in air. Both UV and Raman results indicate that there is no charge transfer between C60 and m-xylene. It was found that the interaction between C60 and m-xylene molecules is of the van der Waals type. This interaction reduces the icosahedral symmetry of C60 molecule and induces strong PL from the solvate nanorods.