buckminsterfullerene


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Related to buckminsterfullerene: Graphene, Carbon Nanotubes, Buckyballs

buckminsterfullerene

(bŭk'mĭnstərfo͝ol`ərēn', –fo͝ol'ərēn`) or

buckyball,

C60, hollow cage carboncarbon
[Lat.,=charcoal], nonmetallic chemical element; symbol C; at. no. 6; interval in which at. wt. ranges 12.0096–12.0116; m.p. about 3,550°C;; graphite sublimes about 3,375°C;; b.p. 4,827°C;; sp. gr. 1.8–2.1 (amorphous), 1.9–2.3 (graphite), 3.
..... Click the link for more information.  molecule named for R. Buckminster FullerFuller, R. Buckminster
(Richard Buckminster Fuller), 1895–1983, American architect and engineer, b. Milton, Mass. Fuller devoted his life to the invention of revolutionary technological designs aimed at solving problems of modern living.
..... Click the link for more information.  because of the resemblance of its molecular structure to his geodesic domes. Although buckminsterfullerene (C60) was originally detected in soot in 1985, isolation was first reported in 1990. The soccerball-like molecules are prepared in helium by passing about 150 amps through a carbon rod and extracting the soot with benzene; the resulting magenta solution contains C60 and C70. See fullerenefullerene,
any of a class of carbon molecules in which the carbon atoms are arranged into 12 pentagonal faces and 2 or more hexagonal faces to form a hollow sphere, cylinder, or similar figure.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bibliography

See J. Baggot, Perfect Symmetry: The Accidental Discovery of Buckminsterfullerene (1996); H. Aldersey-Williams, The Most Beautiful Molecule: The Discovery of the Buckyball (1997).

buckminsterfullerene

[¦bək‚min·stər′fu̇l·ə‚rēn]
(chemistry)
C60 The most abundant and most stable of the fullerenes, containing 60 carbon atoms in a highly spherical arrangement; named in honor of R. Buckminster Fuller, a practitioner of geodesic dome architecture. Also known as buckyball.
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References in periodicals archive ?
esearchers asserted that Buckminsterfullerene works by reducing the oxidative stress that causes aging.
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When researchers discovered the buckminsterfullerene molecule in 1985, they thought they had found the ideal candidate for such a role.
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have now demostrated that a tip capped with a single "buckyball"--a perfectly symmetric, spherical molecule consisting of 60 carbon atoms, more formally known as buckminsterfullerene -- can serve as an extremely small, well-defined electron source that may be suitable for certain types of microscopy.
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Lamb and his co-workers at the University of Arizona in Tucson have donned gloves and masks when working with chemistry's latest darling, a soccerball-shaped molecule known as buckminsterfullerene.
C60: definitely a beauty, maybe a beast
60]) molecule known as a buckeyball or Buckminsterfullerene (SN: 1/28/89, p.
Buckeyballs get their first major physical
Most famous of the fullerenes is buckminsterfullerene, a 60-carbon, soccer-ball-shaped molecule whose interlocking hexagonal and pentagonal facets resemble the geodesic domes designed by engineering visionary R.
Making chicken wire of molecular size
Kroto and Smalley gave the large molecule a suitably large name, buckminsterfullerene (because the molecule was reminiscent of the geodesic domes designed by R.
Tracking an elusive carbon: scientists suspect a 'Third Man' molecule may help solve galactic mysteries
To explain the high prevalence of C60 clusters, for example, some researchers have proposed a soccer-ball-like structure called buckminsterfullerene (SN: 11/23/85, p.
Explaining carbon-cluster magic numbers
Buckminsterfullerene is a recently discovered, stable cluster of 60 carbon atoms, which may have a geometric structure like the pattern on a soccer ball (SN: 11/23/85, p.
More carbon-cage molecules
60 -- buckminsterfullerene, or "buckyball" for short -- has become the center of a wide range of theoretical and laboratory investigations (SN: 11/23/85, p.
'Buckyball' II: the game continues

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