FULLERENE OR NANOTUBE, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING FULLERENE OR NANOTUBE

摘要

Although a fullerene is a new material which is promising as an organic device material, the electrical conductivity thereof widely ranges from insulator to semiconductor, and no method for controlling the electrical conductivity of a fullerene with high precision has been known so far. By heat-treating a fullerene in an inert gas under specific temperature and gas flow rate conditions, concentrations of impurities, in particular concentrations of oxygen and water adsorbed onto the fullerene can be controlled, thereby improving the electrical conductivity of the fullerene with high repeatability. Consequently, a fullerene having a previously unreported high electrical conductivity can be produced, and thus performance of an organic device can be significantly improved.