#fullerenes

80-atom boron 'buckyball' finally steps into nanotechnology's spotlight

The nanoscale world appears to have a new ball to kick around. Researchers from Brown University have shown the first experimental evidence for a "buckyball" molecule made from 80 boron atoms. The new structure is the cousin of the carbon buckyball, known formally as Buckminsterfullerene—a soccer ball-shaped molecule made from 60 carbon atoms that helped launch the nanotechnology revolution when it was discovered just over 40 years ago. The evidence for the new nanostructure comes from photoelectron spectroscopy, which provides a sort of fingerprint for different molecular shapes and structures. The study is published in Chemical Science. "I really didn't think this structure was going to be stable and that we were going to disprove its existence," said Lai-Sheng Wang, a professor of chemistry at Brown and the paper's corresponding author. "But when my student showed me the spectrum for the boron-80 cluster after I returned from a trip, I couldn't believe it."

What Makes Nanotechnology so Valuable for Industrial Innovation?

A practical answer is this: nanotechnology allows engineers and researchers to work with materials at a scale where performance changes are not just smaller versions of bulk behavior.

At the nanoscale, surface area, particle interaction, optical response, conductivity, and reactivity can shift in ways that help companies design stronger, lighter, more efficient, and more functional products.

That is why nanoproducts are now relevant far beyond academic laboratories. They are being evaluated and used in electronics, energy systems, chemical processing, coatings, composites, healthcare research, agriculture, and advanced manufacturing.

For B2B buyers, the discussion is less about novelty and more about measurable performance.

Where Nanomaterials Create Value

Area

How It Creates Value

Electronics Sensors, conductive films, displays, semiconductor support materials, flexible circuits

Energy Battery materials, supercapacitors, solar cells, fuel cells, conductive additives

Chemicals Catalysts, process additives, high-reactivity powders, functional fillers

Materials Science Composites, protective coatings, polymers, ceramics, reinforcement additives

Medicine and Biotech Imaging research, diagnostics, drug delivery research, biosensing platforms

Agriculture and Environment Controlled release research, nanosensors, photocatalytic, and filtration materials

Why MKnano is Positioned For This Market

MKnano, a division of M K Impex Corp., was established in 2007 and is based in Mississauga, Canada. The company serves global markets across 35+ countries and supports industrial buyers, researchers, and technical procurement teams with a wide nanotechnology product portfolio.

Its product categories include Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs), graphene, fullerenes, buckyballs, nanoparticles, nanopowders, quantum dots, nanowires, nanorods, nano additives, nano fillers, magnetic nanoparticles, nanolubricants, and dispersions.

This breadth is important because B2B nanotechnology projects rarely depend on a single material only. Engineers often compare purity, particle size, surface chemistry, dispersion needs, and end-use requirements before choosing the right nanomaterial.

it's a mineraloid that is predominantly carbon but contains other heavy metals like lead, cadmium, arsenic, and nickel, to name a few.

you'll often see it marketed for water purification because of its antimicrobial properties, but this is kind of moot because it leeches out just as many heavy metals as it absorbs bacteria (unless it's washed for several days in a row).

it has some pseudoscientific claims to treat illness but the real science behind shungite is the presence of fullerenes in its chemical composition.

fullerenes are hollow, spherical molecules made up of carbon. i'm not a chemist so i'm not even gonna try to get into specifics here but!!!!

fullerenes are being studied for use in medicine - we're talking HIV drugs, therapies for drug resistant infections, targeted therapies for cancer, and photodynamic therapy; it has been shown to have a positive response in tumor shrinkage and metastasis inhibition plus a bunch more anti-cancer properties.

anyway, as cool as this information is, please don't drink shungite water.

article: fullerenes for the treatment of cancer: an emerging tool

After 23 years, The Fullerenes' album Better Dating Through Technology has been reissued! Explore 73 minutes of love, science, burgers, cars, the Teletubbies, and more. Now available to pre-order physically and digitally on Bandcamp, with a full release on March 3rd!

The album has been remastered by Olliz and includes 6 bonus tracks, including single versions of two songs, a Logan Whitehurst cover, and three rarely-before-heard tracks. Remastered versions of Andrea and Holding Hands With Heather are available now. https://zabloing.bandcamp.com/album/better-dating-through-technology

On the release day, Better Dating Through technology will be on streaming services for the first time ever. Pre-save links coming soon!

Newly synthesized fullerene material remains metallic even under low temperatures

An international team whose research was coordinated by Osaka Metropolitan University (OMU) has reported the survival of metallic behavior in the strongly correlated molecular material ytterbium cesium fulleride (Yb₂CsC₆₀). The electrons in the newly synthesized material remained mobile and continued to conduct electricity even at the lowest temperatures studied, despite strong electron interactions that would normally be expected to drive the material into an insulating state. The findings were published in Nature Communications. In materials such as metals, electrons move freely, allowing them to conduct electricity. However, as interactions between electrons become stronger, freedom of motion can be suppressed. Under these conditions, materials undergo a phenomenon known as a Mott metal-insulator transition, where they change from a conducting metal into an insulating state in which electrons become effectively immobile.