Water mediated modification of structure and physical chemical properties of nanocarbons

Considerable amount of water incapsulated in native shungite carbon (ShC) and its amphiphilic properties are originated from fullerene-like structure. We report on the study of ShC and its stable aqueous dispersion by high-resolution solid state ¹³С and ¹Н MAS NMR, and time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry. ¹³С NMR spectrum changes substantially as ShC was transformed into aqueous dispersion: a narrow sp²-carbon signal (at 116 ppm) attributed to the basic structural unit (BSU) in the form of bowls is observed. Distance from carbon atoms in BSU to hydrogen atoms of water was estimated at  0.8 nm using cross-polarization technique. ¹H solid state NMR spectrum consists of two peaks at 0.40 and 3.16 ppm. They were assumed to be related to water complexes on BSU (0.40 ppm) and to adsorbed water (3.16 ppm). TOF mass spectra of the ShC aqueous dispersion showed maximum intensity at  284 m/z corresponding to the dominant structure of ShC.