FULLERENE

Question 1

Fullerene

Answer 1

*One of the allotropes of carbon
* Carbon atoms are connected by single or double bonds
*To form a closed or partially closed mesh
* It has fused rings which contain up to 4 to 7 carbon atoms

Question 2

Allotropes

Answer 2

*same element
*Different structural arrangements
*Same physical state
*Different properties

Question 3

Main allotropes of carbon

Answer 3

Diamond
graphite
lonsdaleite
fullerene
amorphous carbon

Question 4

In all the allotropes carbon atoms are joined by what

Answer 4

They are joined by covalent bonds

Question 5

Fullerene was discovered when
And by who

Answer 5

It was discovered in 1985

Robert F Curl
Richard E. Smallie
Harold W Kroto

Question 6

The structure of the C60 molecule

Answer 6

*It is like a football structure
*It’s has fused rings of 4 to 7 carbon atoms
*It forms a multi layered molecule
*It’s molecular formula is equivalent to that of a geodesic dome

Question 7

Fullerenes are mainly categorized as

Answer 7

Open mesh ….eg nanotube
Closed mesh ..eg bucky ball such as Buckminsterfullerene

Question 8

Fullerene with a closed mesh topology are often denoted informally by their what?

Answer 8

Empirical formular
Cn (n stands for number of carbon atoms)

NB :For some values of n there might be more than one isomer

Question 9

Isomer

Answer 9

*Same molecular formula
*Different molecular structure

Question 10

Who predicted the existence of C60 and in what year

Answer 10

Eiji Osawa

In 1970

Question 11

How did Eiji Osawa predict the existence of C60 molecule

Answer 11

He noticed that the structure of a corannulene molecule was a subset of the shape of a football and then hypothesizes that a full shape could also exist

Question 12

What did a group of scientists do in 1973

Answer 12

*The made a quantum chemical analysis on the stability of the C60 molecule
* They also calculated it’s electronic structure

Question 13

How did Sumio Iijima Identify the C60 molecule in 1980

Answer 13

He identified the molecule from an electron microscope
He saw it when he was viewing carbon black from an electron microscope
It formed the core of a particle with the structure of a bucky onion

Question 14

In 1980, how did Mildred Dressulhaus and Morinobu Endo in collaboration with T Venkatesan discover fullerene

Answer 14

They discovered fullerene by blasting graphite with lasers producing carbon clusters, which could be later seen as fullerene

Question 15

What did the “ene” In fullerene signify

Answer 15

It showed that carbon is an unsaturated compound, being connected to three other carbons and not four

Question 16

How where fullerenes discovered
And by who

Answer 16

They where discovered from vaporizing carbon in a helium atmosphere
This created a sooty residue which fullerenes where found within

By Harold Kroto fr the university of Sussex working with James Heath, Sean O’Brien, Richard smalley and Robert curl from rice university