Article
Article
Fullerene
Article By:
Hare, Jonathan School of Chemistry and Molecular Physics, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, United Kingdom.
Kroto, Sir Harold W. Formerly, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida. Nobelist.
Last reviewed:January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.757287
A hollow, pure carbon molecule in which the atoms lie at the vertices of a polyhedron with 12 pentagonal faces and any number (other than one) of hexagonal faces. The fullerenes were discovered as a consequence of astrophysically motivated chemical physics experiments that were interpreted by using geodesic architectural concepts. Fullerene chemistry, a field that appears to hold much promise for materials development and other applied areas, was born from pure fundamental science.
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