The Scientific Significance Of Buckyball Essay Research — страница 2

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concerning the structure were laid to rest when in 1990 a team of physicists- led by Donald Huffman of the University of Arizona and Wolfgang Krtschmer of the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany- succeeded in synthesizing measurable quantities of fullerenes thereby isolating and characterizing representatives of the fullerene family (Fowler 1995). Huffman and Krtschmer found that an appreciable amount of buckyballs could be prepared by electrically evaporating graphite in an atmosphere of helium gas. Discovered in the soot were the C 60 molecules, confirming the structure, and a related molecule, C70, for which an egg-shaped geometry was proposed (Kroto 1993) . It was this follow up discovery to the research conducted by Kroto, Smalley and Curl that

allowed fullerene science to blossom. The fact that buckyballs can superconduct, lubricate, and absorb light, promises many applications. Research has been able to alter the fullerene cages. They have filled them with other atoms, chemically modified their surfaces , and elongated them in to tubes and rods (Wu 1996). Superconduction is one of the astonishing applications of the fullerene. Films of solid C60 have been doped with alkali metals are able to superconduct at up to 33 degrees Kelvin, 20 K above the previous record for a molecular superconductor (Ball 1996). They have also used buckyballs as cages to enclose atoms. Researchers have discovered ways to both insert atoms into cages and tack them onto the outside in an effort to make new materials with unique electrical,

optical, and magnetic properties (Service 1996). They have also learned to modify the buckyball production process to create swollen spheres with many more than 60 carbon atoms. Another advance made, using what they have learned about fullerenes, was the creation of “bucky-tubes”- long cylinders that could be used in superstrong composite materials (Pool 1996). These carbon nanotubes are the most celebrated examples of newly discovered carbon based materials (Ball 1996). The tube shaped fullerenes are promising in that they can be applied for possible uses in everything from tips for scanning probe microscopes to arrays of mini-electron guns for flat panel displays (Service 1996 p. 346). The discovery of a molecular solid carbon is truly remarkable. Fullerene science has led

to the beginning of a new view of materials science at the interface of the molecular and bulk scales (Ball 1996). Properties of fullerenes are very different from those of any molecules known to date leaving an air of excitement surrounding its discovery. Bucky balls are scientifically significant because the chemistry of the newly discovered molecule, will lead to the development of some very new chemistry of carbon in the years to come. References Ball, P. Fullerenes finally score as Nobel committee honours chemists. Nature 17 October: 561; 1996. Fowler, P.W.; Manolopoulos, D.E. An Atlas of Fullerenes. Oxford: Claredon Press; 1995. Kroto, H. W.; Fischer J. E.; Cox, D. E. The Fullerenes. Oxford: Pergamon Press; 1993. Pool, R. Buckyball pioneers score the ultimate goal. New

Scientist 19 October: 6; 1996. Service, R. F. A Captivating Carbon Form. Science 18 October: 345-346; 1996 Wu, C. Buckyballs bounce into Nobel History. Science News 19 October: 247; 1996.