Fullerene Nanowhiskers

Fullerenes became a new member of carbon allotropes in addition to diamond and graphite after the discovery of C₆₀ (carbon 60) by Kroto et al. in 1985. The model of C₆₀ was first proposed by Osawa in 1970. C₆₀ is a hollow spherical molecule composed of 60 carbon atoms that contains 12 five-membered rings and 20 six-membered rings and has the same structure as a soccer ball. In 2001, C₆₀ fullerene nanowhiskers (FNWs), which are single-crystal nanowhiskers solely composed of C₆₀ molecules, we...