Question

Explain the following statement with reason: The fullerene is considered as purest allotrope of carbon.

Answer 1

Carbon is present in crystalline forms and it also exists in the form of amorphous.  

Carbon forms “different forms” are called “allotropes”. Example: diamond, graphite, and fullerene. Many atoms are linked in a crystal in a repeated pattern that contains thousands of atoms.  

For each carbon form, the “arrangement of atoms” in the crystal differs and explains why the various forms have different properties.

One of the allotropic form of a carbon is a fullerene in which “carbon atoms” are “arranged in a sphere”.

Each sphere has 60 carbon atoms and each carbon atom is linked by a single covalent. The bonds which are present in carbons are relatively weak.

The fullerene is considered as purest allotrope of “carbon” because they have “smooth structure” without having dangling bonds.