The result is carbon-rich soot particles that glow, giving off gentle yellow light. Amid this soot are buckyballs. Buckyballs also exist in interstellar dust and in geological formations on Earth. So while they are new to science they are reasonably common in nature. Chemical and physical properties of buckyballs Buckyballs and other fullerenes intrigue scientists because of their chemistry and their unusual hollow, cage-like shape.
Buckyballs are extremely stable and can withstand very high temperatures and pressures.
The carbon atoms of buckyballs can react with other atoms and molecules, leaving the stable, spherical structure intact. Researchers are interested in creating new molecules by adding other molecules to the outside of a buckyball and also in the possibility of trapping smaller molecules inside a buckyball. Carbon tubes As well as carbon spheres in many sizes, scientists have discovered tubes of carbon. Nanotubes formed in this way are a series of tubes packed inside each other. When a tiny dose of cobalt, nickel or iron catalyst is added during manufacture, the result is an empty nanotube with a wall just one atom thick.