Chemists Build First "Buckyball" Made of Boron

CelestialScience writes Researchers have built the first "buckyballs" composed entirely of boron. Unlike the original, carbon-based buckyballs, the boron molecules are not shaped like soccer balls, with tessellating pentagons and hexagons. Instead, they are molecular cages made up of hexagons, heptagons and triangles. As Lai-Sheng Wang of Brown University and colleagues report in the journal Nature Chemistry, each one contains 40 atoms, compared with carbon buckyballs which are made of 60. Boron is not the first element after carbon to get "buckyballed", but the boron balls may be the closest analogue to the carbon variety. Because of their reactivity, they could be useful for storing hydrogen.

Comments

Boron?

[CohibaVancouver]

The first time I read the headline I thought it said Chemists Build First "Buckyball" Made of Bacon .

Boron's OK, I suppose, but bacon would have been way wicked cooler.

Re:Boron?

[jeffb (2.718)]

Step 1: Build buckyball model out of wooden skewers and string.

Step 2: Wrap skewers in raw bacon.

Step 3: Microwave.

Step 4: Post to YouTube.

Step 5: Profit!

(Note to whoever actually tries this: Depending on the scale of your model, some of the bacon loops may resonantly couple with the field in your microwave oven. Don't be surprised at arcs and flames. Please don't skip Step 4.)

what a glorious failure!

[Thud457]

They're still talking about his balls 40 years after his death.