ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Fullerene

Fullerene is a really cool molecule that looks like a tiny soccer ball. It's made up of carbon atoms that are arranged in a pattern that looks like hexagons and pentagons, just like the panels on a soccer ball.

Imagine you have a sheet of paper and you draw six-sided and five-sided shapes over and over again until the whole paper is filled. That's sort of how a fullerene works. The carbon atoms connect to each other in six-sided and five-sided shapes until they form a little ball.

Fullerenes are important because they have some special properties that make them useful in many different fields. For example, they are very strong and can be used in materials like super-strong polymers, ceramics, and nanotubes. They also conduct electricity, which means they can be used in electronics like solar cells and computer chips.

Scientists are still learning about fullerene and how it can be used, but it's a really promising material that could help us solve problems and make things better in the future!