Crystalline Layered Fullerene Network with Exceptionally High Density of Intercalated Alkali Ions

Crystalline Layered Fullerene Network with Exceptionally High Density of Intercalated Alkali Ions | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Crystalline Layered Fullerene Network with Exceptionally High Density of Intercalated Alkali Ions Paolo Samorì, Hao Mei, Mingming Gao, Wentao Fan, Yuyu Wang, Shitao Wu, and 8 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6848714/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Fullerene network is an emergent two-dimensional carbon allotrope composed of covalently-bonded, hexagonally packed C 60 molecules. Layer-by-layer assembly of fullerene network offers opportunities beyond the reach of existing materials for hosting unexplored intercalation chemistry, because of its hierarchical π-electron conjugation and abundant coordination sites. However, conventional strategies for creating such layered crystalline structure rely on cumbersome restacking, leading to limited yield and reproducibility. Herein, we demonstrate the topochemical synthesis of crystalline layered C 60 network (LCNW) with a wide interlayer gap (9.2Å), exceeding twice the graphite interlayer distance. The electrochemical measurements indicate that every crystal unit of LCNW accommodates approximately 12 Li + , 3 Na + or 2 K + ions, respectively. The superdense storage of intercalated Li + /Na + (i.e. Li 12 C 60 and Na 3 C 60 ) surpasses the theoretical density limit of state-of-the-art carbon materials (i.e. LiC 6 and NaC 186 ). These findings highlight the potential of LCNW as a new material platform for energy storage and other functional applications. Physical sciences/Chemistry/Materials chemistry/Graphene/Synthesis of graphene Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/Nanoscale materials/Carbon nanotubes and fullerenes Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/Nanoscale materials/Structural properties Physical sciences/Chemistry/Electrochemistry/Batteries Carbon materials fullerene network topochemical synthesis intercalation chemistry alkali metal ions Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupportingInformation.docx SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6848714","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":476683121,"identity":"a8a29ce1-b5c4-4235-8f12-56c74322f802","order_by":0,"name":"Paolo 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Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Panpan","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":476683133,"identity":"79715aff-8e21-4123-9a7b-4efc630ef54e","order_by":12,"name":"Yiyong Mai","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6373-2597","institution":"University of Technology Sydney","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yiyong","middleName":"","lastName":"Mai","suffix":""},{"id":476683134,"identity":"c03bf319-b953-407b-80a1-c7ce2b637c12","order_by":13,"name":"Sheng Yang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shanghai Jiao Tong University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sheng","middleName":"","lastName":"Yang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-06-08 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Ions","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Carbon materials, fullerene network, topochemical synthesis, intercalation chemistry, alkali metal ions","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6848714/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6848714/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eFullerene network is an emergent two-dimensional carbon allotrope composed of covalently-bonded, hexagonally packed C\u003csub\u003e60\u003c/sub\u003e molecules. Layer-by-layer assembly of fullerene network offers opportunities beyond the reach of existing materials for hosting unexplored intercalation chemistry, because of its hierarchical π-electron conjugation and abundant coordination sites. However, conventional strategies for creating such layered crystalline structure rely on cumbersome restacking, leading to limited yield and reproducibility. Herein, we demonstrate the topochemical synthesis of crystalline layered C\u003csub\u003e60\u003c/sub\u003e network (LCNW) with a wide interlayer gap (9.2Å), exceeding twice the graphite interlayer distance. The electrochemical measurements indicate that every crystal unit of LCNW accommodates approximately 12 Li\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e, 3 Na\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e or 2 K\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e ions, respectively. The superdense storage of intercalated Li\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e/Na\u003csup\u003e+ \u003c/sup\u003e(i.e. Li\u003csub\u003e12\u003c/sub\u003eC\u003csub\u003e60\u003c/sub\u003e and Na\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003eC\u003csub\u003e60\u003c/sub\u003e)\u003csup\u003e \u003c/sup\u003esurpasses the theoretical density limit of state-of-the-art carbon materials (i.e. LiC\u003csub\u003e6\u003c/sub\u003e and NaC\u003csub\u003e186\u003c/sub\u003e). These findings highlight the potential of LCNW as a new material platform for energy storage and other functional applications.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Crystalline Layered Fullerene Network with Exceptionally High Density of Intercalated Alkali Ions","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-06-27 10:01:46","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6848714/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"ac60e928-9561-489f-ae79-b8e964be4549","owner":[],"postedDate":"June 27th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":50618049,"name":"Physical sciences/Chemistry/Materials chemistry/Graphene/Synthesis of graphene"},{"id":50618050,"name":"Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/Nanoscale materials/Carbon nanotubes and fullerenes"},{"id":50618051,"name":"Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/Nanoscale materials/Structural properties"},{"id":50618052,"name":"Physical sciences/Chemistry/Electrochemistry/Batteries"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-10-20T13:18:07+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-06-27 10:01:46","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6848714","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6848714","identity":"rs-6848714","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}