FULLERENE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fullerene mean? 

• FULLERENE (noun)
  The noun FULLERENE has 1 sense:

1. a form of carbon having a large molecule consisting of an empty cage of sixty or more carbon atoms

  Familiarity information: FULLERENE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FULLERENE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A form of carbon having a large molecule consisting of an empty cage of sixty or more carbon atoms

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("fullerene" is a kind of...):

atomic number 6; C; carbon (an abundant nonmetallic tetravalent element occurring in three allotropic forms: amorphous carbon and graphite and diamond; occurs in all organic compounds)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fullerene"):

buckminsterfullerene; buckyball (a spheroidal fullerene; the first known example of a fullerene)

carbon nanotube; nanotube (a fullerene molecule having a cylindrical or toroidal shape)

 Context examples 

A form of carbon related to fullerenes, except that the carbon atoms form extended hollow tubes instead of closed, hollow spheres.

(Carbon Nanotubes, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Though C60, referring to the number of carbon atoms that make up one sphere, is the most common fullerene, researchers have found stable, spherical carbon structures containing 70 atoms (C70), 120 (C120), 180 (C180), and others.

(Buckyball, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Buckyball, also known as fullerene or C60, is one of three known pure forms of carbon (graphite and diamond being the other two) that takes a spherical shape with a hollow interior.

(Buckyball, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)