PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY OF FULLERENES

Like so many important scientific discoveries, Buckminsterfullerene was found while alert individuals were looking for something else. In 1985, Kroto, Heath, O’Brien, Curl and Smalley were studying the formation of long-chain carbon molecules in circumstances analogous to interstellar space and stellar atmospheres. They observed that under certain conditions, clusters consisting of sixty carbon atoms were produced in unusual abundance.

Their suggestion that this sixty-atom cluster might be a hollow sphere of carbón immediately captured the attention of scientists worldwide. However, for some time, experimental results came from only afew groups because of the elaborate laser vaporization supersonic cluster beam apparatus required to produce the species. Indeed, without bulk simple quantities available, the fullerene hypothesis was only indirectly testable. Nevertheless, quite precise predictions were made, many to be subsequently verified.

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Autor: Peter W. Stephens

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