buckyball

American  

[buhk-ee-bawl] / ˈbʌk iˌbɔl /

noun

1. Informal. a single molecule of buckminsterfullerene.

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buckyball British  

/ ˈbʌkɪˌbɔːl /

noun

1. informal a ball-like polyhedral carbon molecule of the type found in buckminsterfullerene and other fullerenes

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buckyball Scientific  

/ bŭk′ē-bôl′ /

1. See buckminsterfullerene

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Etymology

Origin of buckyball

1985-90; after R. Buckminster Fuller; -y ², ball ¹

Example Sentences

Before buckyballs, pure carbon was known to exist in just a few configurations: stacked in sheets as graphite; arrayed in hard, clear crystals of diamond; and jumbled randomly in amorphous carbon.

From New York Times

And buckyballs became famed as a kind of Swiss Army knife of the molecular realm — with potential applications ranging from vessels for hydrogen fuel storage to paint-on solar panels to ultra-strong armor.

From Washington Post

He recalls that in the mid-1980s, when scientists first created “buckyball” spheres made of 60 carbon atoms, “there was the same degree of skepticism, despite all the evidence.”

From Science Magazine

With three bonds, it transforms into sheetlike graphite or graphene, 3D nanotubes, or even soccer ball–shaped buckyballs.

From Science Magazine

Historically, materials that revolutionized technology, including tungsten light-bulb filaments, penicillin, Teflon and C60 buckyballs, were found through a combination of intuition, trial and error and lucky mishaps.

From Nature