A new carbon structure: the buckyball

What changed

Found unusually stable clusters of 60 carbon atoms and proposed a closed, football-shaped molecular structure.

Scientific scope

Found unusually stable clusters of 60 carbon atoms and proposed a closed, football-shaped molecular structure. Scope limitation: The 1985 structure proposal and mass-spectrometric evidence precede later bulk synthesis and structural confirmation. This package covers that discovery, not every fullerene material.

Evidence

Assessment uses the catalogue-linked source evidence for the stated contribution. The 1985 structure proposal and mass-spectrometric evidence precede later bulk synthesis and structural confirmation. This package covers that discovery, not every fullerene material.

Contributors

• H. W. Kroto · SCIENCE: Named source contributor; exact labor shares are not measured.
• J. R. Heath · SCIENCE: Named source contributor; exact labor shares are not measured.
• S. C. O’Brien · SCIENCE: Named source contributor; exact labor shares are not measured.
• R. F. Curl · SCIENCE: Named source contributor; exact labor shares are not measured.
• R. E. Smalley · SCIENCE: Named source contributor; exact labor shares are not measured.

• C60: Buckminsterfullerene
• Publisher-deposited byline: C60: Buckminsterfullerene

Provisional WRS assessment, edition 2026-10-16.1. Independent expert calibration is pending. This grade does not certify correctness or assign ownership.

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