Hydrophilic Fullerene Nanostructures Synthesis

To impart surface hydrophilicity to the hydrophobic fullerene self-assemblies, Pluronic (p-123, polyethylene glycol-block-polypropylene glycol-block-polyethylene glycol, number average molecular weight (Mn)∼ 5800, Sigma-Aldrich, U.S.A.) was used to treat FNTs or FNWs for surface modification. Briefly, the FNTs or FNWs powder was directly added into Pluronic aqueous solution (0.5 wt%) and left to resuspend overnight to obtain FNTs-Pluronic (FNT-P) or FNWs-Pluronic (FNW-P). After centrifugation and removal of the supernatant, the precipitate was washed with ultrapure water. This washing step was repeated twice times, and the precipitate was vacuum-dried at 80°C for 24 h.