Buckyball

From 3D Printables

Buckminsterfullerene (Buckyball)

Fullerenes are a class of carbon allotropes that are either spherical or tubular in shape. This model is C₆₀, a cage made from 60 carbon atoms arranged in hexagons and pentagons.

Contents 1 Educational Use 2 Downloads 2.1 Model Specifications 3 Resources 4 Credits

Educational Use

The Buckminsterfullerene was discovered by Robert Curl, Harold Kroto, and Richard Smalley in 1985. They were awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work.

There are various potential applications for fullerenes including drug delivery, hydrogen storage, photovoltaics, and superconductors (see The A to Z of Nanotechnologyto learn more).

Geometrically, the buckyball is a truncated icosahedron containing 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons. No two pentagons share an edge. A common example of this shape is a soccer ball.

Downloads

Space-fill version:

• Buckyball.STL

• Buckyball vertices text file

Buckyball model in STLGenerator

Ball and Stick:

• .STL file

• Original VRML file from Library of 3D molecular models at NYU.

VRML buckyball (ball and stick)

Model Specifications

Model (space-fill) created using MATLAB to generate a text file containing vertices and STLGenerator to create .STL file.

STLGenerator settings:

• Resolution: .08
• Sphere Diameter: .06

Other options:

• Convert VRML ball-and-stick model to .STL

• Import PDB file from Library of 3D Molecular Models to STLGenerator.

This model was printed on Dimension SST.

• Print size: 1.7 inches diameter

• Print time: 4.5 hours

Resources

• Wikipedia article on Fullerenes
• A to Z of Nanotechnology - Buckyballs

Credits

MATLAB code used to generate vertices obtained from Bill McKeeman