Buckminsterfullerene
Encyclopedia
Buckminsterfullerene is a spherical fullerene
molecule with the formula . It was first intentionally prepared in 1985 by Harold Kroto
, James Heath
, Sean O'Brien, Robert Curl
and Richard Smalley
at Rice University
. 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 fullerene
s. The name is a homage to Richard Buckminster Fuller
, whose geodesic domes it resembles. Buckminsterfullerene was the first fullerene molecule discovered and it is also the most common in terms of natural occurrence, as it can be found in small quantities in soot
.
Buckminsterfullerene is the largest matter to have been shown to exhibit wave–particle duality
.
made of 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons, with a carbon atom at the vertices of each polygon and a bond along each polygon edge. The van der Waals diameter of a molecule is about 1.01 nanometer (nm). The nucleus to nucleus diameter of a molecule is about 0.71 nm. The molecule has two bond lengths. The 6:6 ring bonds (between two hexagons) can be considered "double bonds" and are shorter than the 6:5 bonds (between a hexagon and a pentagon). Its average bond length is 1.4 Å (angstroms).
Each carbon atom in the structure is bonded covalently with 3 others. Carbon atoms have 6 electrons, meaning their electronic structure is u2,4. To become stable, the carbon atom needs 8 electrons in its outer shell, and covalently bonding with 3 other atoms will only make 7 electrons in its outer shell. This means that the one unbonded electron on every carbon atom is free to float around all of the compound's atoms. This, in addition to its size, makes it potentially useful in nanotechnology
.
Fullerene
A fullerene is any molecule composed entirely of carbon, in the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid, or tube. Spherical fullerenes are also called buckyballs, and they resemble the balls used in association football. Cylindrical ones are called carbon nanotubes or buckytubes...
molecule with the formula . It was first intentionally prepared in 1985 by Harold Kroto
Harold Kroto
Sir Harold Walter Kroto, FRS , born Harold Walter Krotoschiner, is a British chemist and one of the three recipients to share the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Robert Curl and Richard Smalley....
, James Heath
James R. Heath
James R. Heath is an American chemist and the Elizabeth W. Gilloon Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology.- Early years :...
, Sean O'Brien, Robert Curl
Robert Curl
Robert Floyd Curl, Jr. the son of a Methodist Minister is a graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, Texas and is an emeritus professor of chemistry at Rice University....
and Richard Smalley
Richard Smalley
Richard Errett Smalley was the Gene and Norman Hackerman Professor of Chemistry and a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University, in Houston, Texas...
at Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
. Kroto, Curl, and Smalley were awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...
for their roles in the discovery of buckminsterfullerene and the related class of molecules, the fullerene
Fullerene
A fullerene is any molecule composed entirely of carbon, in the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid, or tube. Spherical fullerenes are also called buckyballs, and they resemble the balls used in association football. Cylindrical ones are called carbon nanotubes or buckytubes...
s. The name is a homage to Richard Buckminster Fuller
Buckminster Fuller
Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller was an American systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, futurist and second president of Mensa International, the high IQ society....
, whose geodesic domes it resembles. Buckminsterfullerene was the first fullerene molecule discovered and it is also the most common in terms of natural occurrence, as it can be found in small quantities in soot
Soot
Soot is a general term that refers to impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of a hydrocarbon. It is more properly restricted to the product of the gas-phase combustion process but is commonly extended to include the residual pyrolyzed fuel particles such as cenospheres,...
.
Buckminsterfullerene is the largest matter to have been shown to exhibit wave–particle duality
Wave–particle duality
Wave–particle duality postulates that all particles exhibit both wave and particle properties. A central concept of quantum mechanics, this duality addresses the inability of classical concepts like "particle" and "wave" to fully describe the behavior of quantum-scale objects...
.
Structure
The structure of a buckminsterfullerene is a truncated icosahedronTruncated icosahedron
In geometry, the truncated icosahedron is an Archimedean solid, one of thirteen convex isogonal nonprismatic solids whose faces are two or more types of regular polygons.It has 12 regular pentagonal faces, 20 regular hexagonal faces, 60 vertices and 90 edges....
made of 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons, with a carbon atom at the vertices of each polygon and a bond along each polygon edge. The van der Waals diameter of a molecule is about 1.01 nanometer (nm). The nucleus to nucleus diameter of a molecule is about 0.71 nm. The molecule has two bond lengths. The 6:6 ring bonds (between two hexagons) can be considered "double bonds" and are shorter than the 6:5 bonds (between a hexagon and a pentagon). Its average bond length is 1.4 Å (angstroms).
Each carbon atom in the structure is bonded covalently with 3 others. Carbon atoms have 6 electrons, meaning their electronic structure is u2,4. To become stable, the carbon atom needs 8 electrons in its outer shell, and covalently bonding with 3 other atoms will only make 7 electrons in its outer shell. This means that the one unbonded electron on every carbon atom is free to float around all of the compound's atoms. This, in addition to its size, makes it potentially useful in nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
.