Fullerene facts for kids

A fullerene is any molecule composed entirely of carbon, in the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid, or tube. Spherical fullerenes are also called buckyballs, and they resemble the balls used in association football. Cylindrical ones are called carbon nanotubes or buckytubes. They are usually made in the form of a hollow ball or tube. The fullerene was found in 1985 by Robert Curl, Harold Kroto and Richard Smalley at the University of Sussex and Rice University, and was named after Buckminster Fuller because his famous Geodesic domes are similar in shape.

Fullerenes are made by the heating of graphite in an electric arc in the presence of inert gases such as helium or argon.

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  Rotating structure of C₆₀

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  A soccer ball is a model of the C₆₀ fullerene

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  Network of the C₆₀ fullerene

Images for kids

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  Model of the C20 fullerene.

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  Model of a carbon nanotube.

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  C60 fullerite (bulk solid C60).

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  The icosahedral fullerene C₅₄₀, another member of the family of fullerenes

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  C₆₀ with isosurface of ground state electron density as calculated with DFT

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  Rotating view of C₆₀, one kind of fullerene

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  This rotating model of a carbon nanotube shows its 3D structure.

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  Fullerite (scanning electron microscope image)

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  C₆₀ in solution

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  C₆₀ in extra virgin olive oil, showing the characteristic purple color of pristine C₆₀ solutions

See also

In Spanish: Fullereno para niños