a form of carbon that contains molecules having 60 carbon atoms arranged at the vertices of a polyhedron with hexagonal and pentagonal faces. It is produced in carbon arcs and occurs naturally in small amounts in certain minerals
See also fullerene
Word origin
C20: named after Buckminster Fuller
buckminsterfullerene in American English
(ˈbʌkmɪnstərˌfʊləˈrin)
noun
a round, pure-carbon fullerene, C60, with a structure similar to that of a geodesic dome