What are Fullerenes?
Structure and Characteristics
Fullerene is a form of carbon made up of molecules composed entirely of carbon atoms, often arranged in a pattern resembling a football.
They're characterised by their hollow, cage-like structure, usually made of a combination of pentagons and hexagons.
Some fullerenes form elongated or tube-like structures, rather than perfect spheres.
First identified in 1985, fullerenes attracted scientific interest because their structure represented an entirely new form of carbon.
Their structure, which resembles a geodesic dome, gives them many potential uses in science, technology, and medicine. Some forms of fullerene can penetrate a cell membrane under certain conditions without causing immediate damage.
This ability has attracted scientific interest because getting materials safely into cells is one of the main challenges in modern medical and biological research.
Fullerenes were named after architect Buckminster Fuller, who popularised geodesic domes. These structures. These structures consist of a network of interconnected triangles that distribute weight evenly across a spherical or hemispherical surface.
Scientists have identified hundreds of different fullerenes, which vary in size and shape and are labelled according to the number of carbon atoms in their cage-like structures, such as C₆₀ or C₉₀.
One well-known example is C₆₀, often called a 'buckyball', which contains 60 carbon atoms arranged in a spherical cage.
