Fullerenes

Fullerenes are new forms of pure carbon with chemical, electrical, and physical characteristics quite different from the two previously known forms, graphite and diamond. The most common fullerene configuration is a soccer-ball-shaped molecule of 60 atoms, although carbon-70 and other variations can also be made. Researchers are studying fullerenes for use as a foundation for diamond films and in batteries, catalysts, superconductors and molecular membranes. They may also be useful in lubricants, photoconductors, gas storage, radiation therapy, medical imaging, novel polymers, rocket propellants, nonlinear optical devices, molecular-scale machinery and high-strength microfibers.

Drs. Donald Huffman and Wolfgang Krätschmer disclosed their invention to RCT in July 1990. RCT applied for international patents both on the method of production and composition of matter for fullerenes and licensed MER Corporation to make and sell research quantities of fullerenes using the Huffman/Krätschmer process.

Inventor

Drs. Donald Huffman of the University of Arizona and Wolfgang Krätschmer of the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics at Heidelberg