Write a short note on fullerene.

Explanation

Fullerene is a crystalline allotrope of carbon. Fullerenes are made by heating graphite in an electric arc in the presence of inert gas. The soot formed by condensation of vapour of carbon contains mainly `C_(60)` fullerene molecules. It is known as Buckminster fullerene. It has soccer ball shape.
`C_(60)` fullerene contains 20 six membered rings and 12 five membered rings. A six membered ring is fused with either six membered ring or with five membered ring but a five membered ring is always fused with six membered ring. All carbon atoms in fullerene are in `sp^2` hybridisation and are in bond with three other carbon atoms. The fourth electron of carbon delocalises on all carbon atoms giving aromatic character to fullerene. These are also called bucky balls, in short.