Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1996

The 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Robert F. Curl Jr., Sir Harold P. Diffy, and Richard E. Smalley for their discovery of a new form of carbon called fullerenes. Fullerenes are molecules composed of carbon atoms arranged in a spherical, ellipsoidal, or cylindrical shape, resembling a soccer ball or a tube. This groundbreaking research expanded our understanding of carbon and led to advancements in materials science and nanotechnology, with potential applications in electronics, medicine, and materials engineering. Their work demonstrated the versatility and complexity of carbon chemistry.