Prof. Olga Boltalina, Colorado State University, USA

'From Serendipity to Selectivity: An Introspective Overview of Fluorine Chemistry of Molecular Carbons and Applications in Organic Electronics'

Fluorinated fullerenes are a distinctive class of molecular fluorocarbons. Unlike fluorinated graphene, nanotubes or other nanocarbon materials, they have well-defined compositions and structures, which makes them uniquely suited to establishing structure–property relationships. This lecture presents an introspective account of three decades of research in this field. It discusses initial fascination of fluorine chemists with “superlubricant” C60F60, which has never been made, followed by the discovery of their exceptional electron acceptor ability and attempts to utilize as cathodes in Li primary batteries. ...