Overview

In 1985 Harold Kroto (1939- ), Robert Curl (1933- ), and Richard Smalley (1943- ) discovered a novel form of pure carbon, called fullerenes, and opened up a new field of chemistry and materials science. Buckminsterfullerene, named after American engineer Richard Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983), consists of 60 carbon atoms joined together into the shape of a soccer ball. It and related fullerenes are hollow, highly stable, and have unusual physical and chemical properties, including optical activity and superconductivity. Nanotubes, which are "buckyballs" rolled into cylindrical forms, are being tested for a variety of applications and are considered to be the most promising material for nanotechnology, the building of new materials at the molecular scale.

Background

Fullerenes represent a new form of the element carbon in which the atoms are arranged to create closed shells. Much of the potential of these new compounds is rooted in the...