Physics and Chemistry of the Fullerenes

The discovery of C60 and C70, icosahedral spherical and ellipsoidal carbon species in September 1985, followed by their successful synthesis in 1990, excited the imagination of many scientists and demanded a radical revision of old, seemingly well-founded, preconceptions in carbon science, leading to the institution of a new, multidisciplinary science of chemistry, physics and materials science "in the round". Unique carbon materials have been discovered, like the nanotubes, buckyonions and endohedral metallofullerenes; and the fullerenes themselves, and their derivatives, have been found to possess a plethora of interesting properties, ranging from the inhibition of HIV-I protease to superconductivity and ferromagnetism. This book discusses the physics and chemistry of the fullerenes in this context.