Question

Write a note on fullerene.

Answer 1

One of the nano-forms of the carbon is Buckminster fullerene (C₆₀). A fullerene is a  molecule of carbon in the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid, tube and many other shapes. Spherical fullerene are also called as buckyballs and resembles football. Fullerene have 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons. A common method used to produce fullerene is to send a large current between two nearby graphite electrodes in an inert atmosphere of Argon. The resulting carbon plasma arc between the electrodes cools into sooty residues from which many fullerenes can be isolated.
PROPERTIES OF FULLERENE:
• It is mustard coloured solid, which appears brown to black with increasing thickness of its film.
• On sublimation, it forms translucent magenta face-centered cubic crystals.
• It is moderately soluble in aromatic hydrocarbons giving magenta solution.
• As a pure solid, it is electrically insulating. With proper impurity addition , it can be made highly conductive and super conductive.
USES OF FULLERENE:
• It is used for the preparation of electronic and microelectronic devices.
• It is used for the preparation of non-linear optical devices.
• It is used for the preparation of batteries as charge carriers.
• It is used for the preparation of super conductors.
• It is used for the preparation of soft ferromagnet with zero remanence.