Buckminsterfullerene

Buckminsterfullerene is an allotrope of carbon; it is the only molecular form, at C₆₀It was jointly discovered by Sir Harold Kroto, Richard E. Smalley and Robert F. Curl who received the 1996 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for their work. It was named after the geodesic architecture of Richard Buckminster Fuller, which it resembled. It is commonly referred to as a "buckyball", in reference to its soccer-ball-like structure.