n.
Any of a class of all-carbon molecules whose atoms are arranged in closed hollow shells.
Allotrope s of carbon first identified in 1985, they have varying (but even) numbers of atoms bonded into structures having 12 pentagonal and 2 or more hexagonal faces. Fullerenes comprising dozens to hundreds of carbon atoms have been prepared. The best known and most stable fullerene, buckminsterfullerene (C 60 , nicknamed buckyball), has 60 carbon atoms arranged in a pattern like that on a standard soccer ball. It is named for R. Buckminster Fuller , whose geodesic dome designs its structure resembles. Chemists have made fullerene derivatives (e.g., with attached hydrogen or halogen atoms or organic groups; see functional group ) and have prepared doped fullerenes (e.g., with alkali metal atoms such as potassium ; see dopant ) that show superconductivity at relatively high temperatures. One or more metal or noble-gas atoms can be trapped in the molecule's hollow interior, resulting in unique complexes called endohedral fullerenes.