What is the composition of "buckyballs?"?

Question

What is the composition of "buckyballs?"?

Answer 1

Bucky balls are named after Buckminster Fuller, who popularized the geodesic dome.  The shape defined by Bucky balls is also found in the Carbon 60 molecule, a form of pure carbon with 60 atoms in a nearly spherical configuration, the truncated icosahedron and soccer balls.

Bucky balls consist of 60 points on the surface of a spherical shape where the distance from any point to its nearest neighboring three points on the sphere is identical for all points.

In the geodesic dome, each pentagon and hexagon is divided into identically shaped triangles, bringing the shape closer yet to a sphere.

The coordinates of the 60 vertices of a Bucky ball centered on the origin of a 3D axis are all based on phi!

These coordintates are the same as the corners of the following three rectangles shown on the Geometry page:

(0,+-1,+-3f), (+-1,+-3f,0), (+-3f,0,+-1)

They also can be defined by the following six 3D bricks:

(+-2,+-(1+2f),+-f)

(+-(1+2f),+-f,+-2)

(+-f,+-2,+-(1+2f))

(+-1,+-(2+f),+-2f)

(+-(2+f),+-2f,+-1)

(+-2f,+-1,+-(2+f))

Here is a complete list of all the coordinates:

(0,1,3f)

(0,1,-3f)

(0,-1,3f)

(0,-1,-3f)

(1,3f,0)

(1,-3f,0)

(-1,3f,0)

(-1,-3f,0)

(3f,0,1)

(3f,0,-1)

(-3f,0,1)

(-3f,0,-1)

(2,(1+2f),f)

(2,(1+2f),-f)

(2,-(1+2f),f)

(2,-(1+2f),-f)

(-2,(1+2f),f)

(-2,(1+2f),-f)

(-2,-(1+2f),f)

(-2,-(1+2f),-f)

((1+2f),f,2)

((1+2f),f,-2)

((1+2f),-f,2)

((1+2f),-f,-2)

(-(1+2f),f,2)

(-(1+2f),f,-2)

(-(1+2f),-f,2)

(-(1+2f),-f,-2)

(f,2,(1+2f))

(f,2,-(1+2f))

(f,-2,(1+2f))

(f,-2,-(1+2f))

(-f,2,(1+2f))

(-f,2,-(1+2f))

(-f,-2,(1+2f))

(-f,-2,-(1+2f))

(1,(2+f),2f)

(1,(2+f),-2f)

(1,-(2+f),2f)

(1,-(2+f),-2f)

(-1,(2+f),2f)

(-1,(2+f),-2f)

(-1,-(2+f),2f)

(-1,-(2+f),-2f)

((2+f),2f,1)

((2+f),2f,-1)

((2+f),-2f,1)

((2+f),-2f,-1)

(-(2+f),2f,1)

(-(2+f),2f,-1)

(-(2+f),-2f,1)

(-(2+f),-2f,-1)

(2f,1,(2+f))

(2f,1,-(2+f))

(2f,-1,(2+f))

(2f,-1,-(2+f))

(-2f,1,(2+f))

(-2f,1,-(2+f))

(-2f,-1,(2+f))

(-2f,-1,-(2+f))

These enigmatic clusters of carbon atoms have been puzzling scientists since 1985 when they were discovered in a research laboratory among the by-products of laser-vaporized graphite. Their hollow spherical structure, reminiscent of the geodesic domes of eccentric architect Buckminster Fuller, earned them the names "buckyballs" and "fullerenes."

Qualities, such as their unique structure, heat resistance, and electrical conductivity, have fueled speculation about their possible applications in high-temperature lubricants, microfilters, more efficient semiconductors, and manufacturing processes.

To learn more about buckyballs and how they are formed, researchers began to look for naturally occurring fullerenes, particularly on the earth. The first evidence that fullerenes occur naturally on the earth came to light when Arizona State University researchers Semeon Tsipursky and Peter Buseck examined a sample of shiny black rock, known as shungite, from northeastern Russia. Shungite is a rare, carbon-rich variety of rock believed to have been formed between 600 million and 4 billion years ago, although how it was formed is debatable. Electron microscopy of the shungite samples revealed a pattern of white circles with black centers--similar to micrographs Tsipursky had seen of laboratory-produced fullerenes.



To confirm their suspicions, Buseck and Tsipursky sent a trace of powdered rock between two glass slides to Bob Hettich of ORNL's Chemical and Analytical Services Division for examination by mass spectroscopy, a technique that sorts molecules by weight and electric charge. Hettich had previously worked with Buseck to analyze samples from both meteorites and terrestrial rocks for evidence of fullerenes, but they had found none. The shungite sample was different, however; Hettich's analysis confirmed the presence of fullerenes in the rock.

"We wanted to make sure we were looking at only what was in the sample and not distorting it in any way," says Hettich. So, he conducted two separate analyses of the sample. In the initial analysis, he used a pulsed laser to vaporize and ionize the sample, preparing it for analysis by mass spectroscopy. Hettich also analyzed carbon samples known not to contain fullerenes to ensure that none were being created by the laser vaporization process itself. The initial analysis confirmed the presence of both C60 and C70, two common fullerenes, in the shungite sample.

To dispel any lingering doubt, Hettich repeated the analysis without a laser, this time using a 400°C stainless steel probe to vaporize the sample and introduce it into the mass spectrometer for ionization. This technique, known as thermal desorption, cannot create fullerenes in fullerene-free graphite material, yet it yielded identical results, confirming the presence of the two types of buckyballs in the sample.



When Buseck and Tsipursky told Hettich that the rock had come from Russia and not a meteorite, he was somewhat surprised. "In the laboratory," says Hettich, "fullerenes are created in an atmosphere of inert gases, like helium, because common diatomic gases, like nitrogen and oxygen inhibit fullerene growth. This is why fullerenes are not found in ordinary soot, like that in household fireplaces. It seemed more likely to find naturally occurring fullerenes in meteorites, where interaction with these gases would be less of a problem."

The discovery of fullerenes in the shungite sample has provided some hard information for buckyball hunters who have been working mostly on educated guesses and speculation. "We've been working with Peter Buseck for quite a while analyzing various samples, but until now we hadn't found any fullerenes," Hettich notes, "This discovery helps us redefine where to look." More recently, C60 and C70 have also been found in a sample of glassy rock from the mountains of Colorado. Known as a fulgurite, this type of rock structure is formed when lightning strikes the ground. Busek, Tsipursky, and Hettich speculated in a 1992 paper that lightning strikes could provide conditions that are favorable for the formation of buckyballs.

The shungite fullerenes are notable not only for their earthly origin, but also because they may have been formed as solids--most laboratory-created fullerenes are grown in the gas phase. "This is the first example of solid-phase fullerene growth," says Hettich, "It has raised a lot of questions about how the rock was formed, how old it is, and how its composition may have changed over time. Because the shungite sample may be volcanic in origin, you can imagine conditions, like those in a volcano, that would be hot enough to form fullerenes and, at the same time, have little or no oxygen or nitrogen present. But right now, no one is sure exactly how these fullerenes were produced."

"This kind of discovery raises more questions than it answers," says Hettich, "but that's not necessarily a bad thing."--Jim Pearce

--------------------------------------...

Sizing Up Fullerenes--"SANS Doute"

"Sans doute!" a confident Frenchman might say--"without a doubt!" But in the brand new world of fullerenes, this sort of certainty is sometimes in short supply. Much of the uncertainty surrounding these newly discovered carbon clusters stems from their size--you could line up 25 million C60 molecules on a ruler before passing the inch mark.

So, although tools like mass spectrometers can be used to distinguish heavier fullerenes from lighter ones--separating C120 from C180, for instance--researchers still have trouble answering some of the most basic questions about them. How big are they? Are they shaped like spheres, dumbbells, or what? How and where do other atoms bond to their inner and outer surfaces?



Using a time-tested analysis technique of small-angle neutron scattering, appropriately labeled SANS, a team of researchers from ORNL's Biology, Chemical Technology, Health Sciences Research, and Solid State divisions is working to dispel some of the mystery surrounding fullerenes, including how they interact and bond with other elements and with each other.

The preferred method of studying the structure of most materials is crystallography. This technique enables researchers to pinpoint the location of every atom in a sample. "Even though C60 has been crystallized, this is not always possible with other materials," says Stephen Henderson of ORNL's Biology Division. "Other techniques, like SANS, are more accessible, though they give less structural information." SANS requires only that the material be dissolved, rather than crystallized; then scattered neutrons are counted for several hours and the data are analyzed.



The SANS research facility, located at ORNL's High Flux Isotope Reactor, is operated by George Wignall of the Solid State Division. There, dissolved fullerene samples are placed in the path of a neutron beam. As the beam passes through the sample, neutrons are deflected, or scattered, by carbon molecules in the solvent. This scattering is recorded by a detector, providing a two-dimensional pattern, or "signature," for the material, which can then be analyzed to determine the size and shape of the dissolved molecules.

  

"The greatest significance of using SANS to analyze fullerenes is its ability to discern shapes," says Bob Haufler, a postdoctoral fellow in the Health Sciences Research Division (HSRD). "This is clearly fertile ground for ne

Answer 2

C-60; looks kind of like a soccer ball. There are other types of fullerenes though...

Just to clarify, its 60 Carbon atoms linked together to form a sphere.