Granted Patent B2

US 12,466,735 · App. 17/975,051 · Granted Nov 11, 2025

Inventors: Debashis Chanda (Orlando, FL); Rinku Saran (Orlando, FL)

Assignee: University of Central Florida Research Foundation, Inc.

C01B32/156C01B32/154B82Y30/00B82Y40/00

Abstract

Claims (29)

1 . A method of producing a superhydrophobic fullerite film having a superhydrophobic surface, the method comprising:

growing nanofullerites using a sonication coupled crystallization procedure;

aging the nano-fullerites for at least three weeks to form a colloidal gel; and

depositing the colloidal gel onto a substrate by drop-casting to form the superhydrophobic fullerite film wherein the method is performed in the absence of any fluorination or silane surface treatment.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the sonication coupled crystallization procedure comprises the steps of:

dissolving an amount of a fullerene powder in a solvent to form a solution;

sonicating the solution with an antisolvent to induce crystallization;

washing the solution with fresh antisolvent to form a suspension;

centrifuging the suspension; and

separating supernatant from the suspension to leave a pellet of nano-fullerites.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the solvent is an organic solvent of fullerenes.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the solvent is selected from the group consisting of carbon disulfide, toluene, xylenes, and dichlorobenzene.

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the antisolvent is an alcohol.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the alcohol is selected from the group consisting of isopropyl alcohol, methanol, and butanol.

7 . A method of producing a superhydrophobic fullerite large area coating comprising:

growing nano-fullerites using a sonication coupled crystallization procedure;

aging the nano-fullerites for at least three weeks to form a colloidal gel;

depositing the colloidal gel onto a substrate by drop-casting; and

scaling the colloidal gel into a paste to form the superhydrophobic fullerite large area coating;

wherein the method is performed in the absence of any fluorination or silane surface treatment.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the sonication coupled crystallization procedure comprises the steps of:

dissolving an amount of a fullerene powder in a solvent to form a solution;

sonicating the solution with an antisolvent to induce crystallization;

washing the solution with fresh antisolvent to form a suspension;

centrifuging the suspension; and

decanting supernatant from the suspension leaving a pellet of nano-fullerites.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the solvent is selected from the group consisting of carbon disulfide, toluene, xylenes, and dichlorobenzene.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the antisolvent is an alcohol.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the alcohol is selected from the group consisting of isopropyl alcohol, methanol, and butanol.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (15)