Buckminsterfullerene: Formula and Interesting Facts
Buckminsterfullerene with formula C60 is the most common and stable type of fullerene with promising future. Discover some interesting facts about it, its history and structure!
Buckminsterfullerene Formula
The formula C60 stands for allotrope consisting of precisely 60 carbon atoms. They form twenty hexagons and twelve pentagons sharing their edges. To make it easier to understand its architecture, just imagine a soccer ball: hexagons stand for the white parts while pentagons represent the black ones. Sounds exciting? It's only the beginning!
1. Origin Of Its Nickname
Buckminsterfullerene got its name after the visionary American architect Richard Buckminster "Bucky" Fuller who became famous for geodesic dome designs. Those recall exactly the molecular structure of C60. Its spherical shape also stands behind the familiar nickname "buckyball".
2. Perfectly Symmetrical Molecule
Fullerene C60 isn't considered as the most beautiful nanoparticle with no good reason and not just by football fans! Its symmetry is simply exceptional! There are 120 symmetry operations which makes buckyball to be the most symmetric molecule known so far!
And in fact because of the unique structure it has amazing properties which allow fullerene C60 to be used in so many fields and ways the scientific world is about to discover!
- Biomedicine – cancer and HIV treatment, drug delivery etc.
- Powerful antioxidants
- Cosmetics, especially anti-aging products
- Electrocatalysts
- Energy and gas storage
- Components coating
- Lubricants
3. Where There Is A Significant Discovery, There Is A Dispute Around
Here, the discoverers, Smalley and Kroto, could not agree on who actually designed the right structure for the C60. According to some, Smalley found out one night and made a paper model so that he could show the structure to his colleagues in the morning. However, Kroto claims he described this structure to others the day before by recalling the work of R. B. Fuller and the "Star Dome" - a star-shaped toy of a soccer ball painted at home as a child. It needs to be said the argument was really minor and didn't negatively influence neither their friendship nor the research.
4. When C60 Meets An Atom of Nitrogen: Endohedral Fullerene, The Most Expensive Material On Earth
It costs $4.2 billion per once and was created in an Oxford University lab - a cage of carbon atoms containing nitrogen atoms inside. The scientists believe it can create tiny atomic clocks, the most precise time-keeping system in the world! It could also significantly improve accuracy of current GPS technology!
5. Possible Spacious Origin
Buckminsterfullerene appears in nature in a minimum quantity in soot and coal layers. It can also be found in a family of mineraloids known as shungites in Karelia, Russia. Its rare occurrence led to the original idea that fullerenes could be an essential part of interstellar matter. Even if it sounds very attractive, the theory has not been confirmed.
Future Of Buckyballs
Richard E. Smalley once admitted not to be motivated by financial reward received together with the Nobel Prize and added: "I have enough money to buy a ranch, a boat, a plane and fly around the world, but I don't care. I take care of my children (note: this means fullerenes). What I care most about is seeing how useful they are in x years." We can just agree on his thoughts and watch the incredible way the fullerene research is taking.
Do you believe that Fullerene C60 could be the key to longevity? When do you think they will become an ordinary part of our lives?