Photophysical properties of C60 colloids suspended in water with Triton X-100 surfactant: excited-state properties with femtosecond resolution.

We examine the photophysics of a colloidal suspension of C(60) particles in a micellar solution of Triton X-100 and water, prepared via a new synthesis which allows high-concentration suspensions. The particle sizes are characterized by transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering and found to be somewhat polydisperse in the range of 10-100 nm. The suspension is characterized optically by UV-vis spectroscopy, femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy, laser flash photolysis, and z-scan.