Characterisation and determination of fullerenes: A critical review

A prominent sector of nanotechnol. is occupied by a class of carbon-​based nanoparticles known as fullerenes. Fullerene particle size and shape impact in how easily these particles are transported into and throughout the environment and living tissues. Currently, there is a lack of adequate methodol. for their size and shape characterization, identification and quant. detection in environmental and biol. samples. The most commonly used methods for their size measurements (aggregation, size distribution, shape, etc.)​, the effect of sampling and sample treatment on these characteristics and the anal. methods proposed for their detn. in complex matrixes are discussed in this review. For the characterization and anal. of fullerenes in real samples, different anal. techniques including microscopy, spectroscopy, flow field-​flow fractionation, electrophoresis, light scattering, liq. chromatog. and mass spectrometry have been reported. The existing limitations and knowledge gaps in the use of these techniques are discussed and the necessity to hyphenate complementary ones for the accurate characterization, identification and quantitation of these nanoparticles is highlighted.