What is a Buckyball?
A buckyball is a fullerene with an ellipsoidal or spherical cage that is comprised of covalently bonded carbon atoms. This is another carbon arrangement (allotrope) type that is between graphite and diamond. The first fullerene to be discovered was C60. It was named buckminsterfullerene after Buckminster Fuller who designed well-known geodesic domes that resemble the molecule. The buckyball and other fullerenes are very strong but expensive to produce and purify. A nanotube, another fullerene variant, has similar qualities to buckyballs but are cylindrical instead of spherical.
When were Buckyballs First Discovered?
In 1985, James Heath, Sean O’Brien, Harold Kroto, Robert Curl, and Richard Smalley discovered fullerenes and buckyballs by conducting molecular beam experiments. Once discovered, fullerenes were commonly found in places where carbon existed. The researchers were awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work relating to fullerenes.
What are Buckyballs?
A buckyball is a new carbon element form. In the buckyball form, carbon atoms are lined up in small clusters and look similar to chicken wire. Other carbon forms are arranged in sheets. Buckyballs’ sizes vary, with the smallest being made up of 20 carbon atoms and the largest ones, 540. The most commonly encountered buckyballs have between 60 and 70 atoms. It is common for other atoms to become trapped inside of a buckyball due to its cage-like construct. Buckyballs are the only type of the carbon atom that can be dissolved in liquid, albeit in small quantities only. A pure buckyball (fullerene) solution is purple and is mostly inert. There are metallofullerenes that combine with metallic ions and carbon, their other possible capabilities are being researched.
How are Buckyballs Made?
Buckyballs are most commonly produced by placing graphite in between two electrodes and then charging the block. The resulting plasma arc then creates a number of fullerenes that have to be isolated from the soot that is a by-product of the procedure.
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