#fullerene

[wikipediapictures]

Buckminsterfullerene

[materialsscienceandengineering]

A special carbon molecule can function as multiple high-speed switches at once

For the first time, an international team of researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo's Institute for Solid State Physics, has demonstrated a switch, analogous to a transistor, made from a single molecule called fullerene.

By using a carefully tuned laser pulse, the researchers are able to use fullerene to switch the path of an incoming electron in a predictable way. This switching process can be three to six orders of magnitude faster than switches in microchips, depending on the laser pulses used. Fullerene switches in a network could produce a computer beyond what is possible with electronic transistors, and they could also lead to unprecedented levels of resolution in microscopic imaging devices.

More than 70 years ago, physicists discovered that molecules emit electrons in the presence of electric fields, and later on, in certain wavelengths of light. The electron emissions created patterns that enticed curiosity but eluded explanation. This has changed thanks to a new theoretical analysis, the ramification of which could not only lead to new high-tech applications, but also improve our ability to scrutinize the physical world itself.

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[uenojunko]

[kosaka-iwaku]

京大へ向かう道すがら。 かっこよすぎるバーバー、 経年劣化が苔生した掲示板、 荘厳な佇まいの疎水、 フラーレンをチョー拡大した遊具。 大通りから一本入るだけでジェニックな被写体が盛りだくさんです。 #iphone #lightroom #cloudy #rainy #barber #saxblue #kyoto #water #bulletinboard #fullerene #京都 #理髪店 #くもり #掲示板 #疎水 #遊具 #フラーレン (Kyoto, Japan) https://www.instagram.com/p/Boy9JJrHxp9/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1wjeotj21mpeg

[wikipediapictures]

C60 Fullerene solution

[wikipediapictures]

Buckminsterfullerene

“C60 Buckminsterfullerene, crystallized. From the Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck.” - via Wikimedia Commons

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Flat fullerene fragments attractive to electrons, shows study

Researchers at Kyoto University in Japan have gained new insights into the unique chemical properties of spherical molecules composed entirely of carbon atoms, called fullerenes. They did it by making flat fragments of the molecules, which surprisingly retained and even enhanced some key chemical properties. The team published their findings in the journal Nature Communications.

"Our work could lead to new opportunities in a wide range of applications, such as semiconductors, photoelectric conversion devices, batteries, and catalysts," says group leader Aiko Fukazawa at the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS).

Buckminsterfullerene (or simply 'buckyball') is a molecule in which 60 carbon atoms are bonded to form a spherical shape. It was named after structural similarities to the geodesic domes designed by the celebrated architect Buckminster Fuller, and its unique structure has continuously attracted the interest of scientists. The buckminsterfullerene and related spherical carbon clusters with different numbers of carbon atoms are colloquially known as fullerenes, after Fuller's surname.

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[materialsscienceandengineering]

Exotic carbon microcrystals in meteorite dust

Unusually shaped microcrystals formed of pure, graphite-like carbon were discovered in the dust of the 21st-century's largest meteorite. They are likely to have grown in layers from complex carbon nuclei such as fullerene.

The largest meteorite observed so far this century entered the Earth's atmosphere above Chelyabinsk in the Southern Urals, Russia on February 15, 2013. Unusually, dust from the surface of this meteorite survived its fall and is being extensively studied. This dust includes some unusually shaped microcrystals of carbon. A study of the morphology and simulations of the formation of these crystals by a consortium led by Sergey Taskaev and Vladimir Khovaylo from Chelyabinsk State University, Russia is now published in the journal The European Physical Journal Plus.

Meteorite dust is formed on the surface of a meteor when it is exposed to high temperatures and intense pressures on entering the atmosphere. The Chelyabinsk meteor was unique in its size, the intensity of the air burst in which it exploded, the size of the largest fragments that fell to earth and the damage that it caused. More relevantly, it fell onto snowy ground and the snow helped to preserve its dust intact.

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