The Ultimate News: February 2014

"Buckyball" redirects here. For the magnetic toy, see neodymium magnet toys. Buckminsterfullerene IUPAC name[hide] (C60-Ih)[5,6]fullerene Other names[hide] Buckyball; Fullerene-C60; [60]fullerene Identifiers CAS number 99685-96-8 Yes PubChem 123591 ChemSpider 110185 Yes ChEBI CHEBI:33128 Yes Beilstein Reference 5901022 Jmol-3D images Image 1 SMILES [show] InChI [show] Properties Molecular formula C60 Molar mass 720.64 g mol−1 Appearance Dark needle-like crystals Density 1.65 g/cm3 Melting point sublimates at ~600 °C[1] Solubility in water insoluble in water Structure Crystal structure Face-centered cubic, cF1924 Space group Fm3m, No. 225 Lattice constant a = 1.4154 nm Yes (verify) (what is: Yes/?) Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C (77 °F), 100 kPa) Infobox references Part of a series of articles on Nanomaterials Fullerenes Carbon nanotubes Buckminsterfullerene Fullerene chemistry Applications In popular culture Timeline Carbon allotropes Nanoparticles Quantum dots Nanostructures Colloidal gold Silver nanoparticles Iron nanoparticles Platinum nanoparticles Nanotechnology portal' v t e Buckminsterfullerene (or bucky-ball) is a spherical fullerene molecule with the formula C60. It has a cage-like fused-ring structure (truncated icosahedron) which resembles a soccer ball, made of twenty hexagons and twelve pentagons, with a carbon atom at each vertex of each polygon and a bond along each polygon edge. It was first generated in 1985 by Harold Kroto, James R. Heath, Sean O'Brien, Robert Curl, and Richard Smalley at Rice University.[2] Kroto, Curl and Smalley were awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their roles in the discovery of buckminsterfullerene and the related class of molecules, the fullerenes. The name is a reference to Buckminster Fuller, as C60 resembles his trademark geodesic domes. Buckminsterfullerene is the most commonly naturally occurring fullerene molecule, as it can be found in small quantities in soot.[3][4] Solid and gaseous forms of the molecule have been detected in deep space.[5] Buckminsterfullerene is one of the largest objects to have been shown to exhibit wave–particle duality.[6] Its discovery led to the exploration of a new field of chemistry, involving the study of fullerenes.

Source: Wickipedia