Fullerene

Origin

from Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic dome

Noun

1. (inorganic chemistry) any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules whose atoms lie at the vertices of a polyhedron having 12 pentagonal and 2 or more hexagonal faces
2. (organic chemistry) any closed-cage compound having twenty or more carbon atoms consisting entirely of 3-coordinate carbon atoms
3. (chemistry, by extension)Th e class of carbon allotropes consisting of tubular carbon molecules (carbon nanotubes) and spheroidal carbon molecules (traditional fullerenes)

Related terms

• buckminsterfullerene
• fullerane
• fulleride
• fulleroid