A search for hydrogenated fullerenes in fullerene-containing Planetary Nebulae

José Jairo Díaz-Luis, D.A. García-Hernández, A. Manchado & F. Cataldo

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Spain

Detections of C60 and C70 fullerenes and planar C24 (graphene precursors) in Planetary Nebulae (PNe) of the Magellanic Clouds and of our own Galaxy have raised the idea that other forms of carbon such as hydrogenated fullerenes (fullerAnes like C60H36 and C60H18), buckyonions, and carbon nanotubes, may be widespread in the Universe. Here we present VLT/ISAAC spectra (R~600) in the 2.9-4.1 um spectral region for the Galactic PNe Tc 1 and M 1-20, which have been used to search for fullerene-based molecules in their fullerene-rich circumstellar environments. We report the non-detection of the most intense infrared bands of several fullerAnes around ~3.4-3.6 um in both PNe. We conclude that if fullerAnes are present in circumstellar environments rich in fullerenes, then they seem to be by far less abundant than C60 and C70.

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