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There are very few scientific papers with shorter titles than the two words that announced experimental evidence for the formation of a special cluster of carbon atoms. But 'C60: Buckminsterfullerene' says all it needs to1. And there are probably not too many other Letters to Nature that feature a photograph of a football (on Texas grass no less). Including this image was a masterstroke, however, because it gives the reader a simple and instant connection to the science — after all, it's surely much easier for most people to compare the structure of C60 with a football rather than a truncated icosahedron.

So, 25 years on, what impact has C60 had? At a fundamental level, this unique carbon allotrope has provided the inspiration for a vast number of research projects. Moreover, the fullerene family itself has grown as other examples — such as rugby-ball-shaped C70 — have been discovered. As well as looking at the properties of the pristine fullerenes, chemists just can't help themselves and have sought to tinker with their structures in many different ways. The hollow interiors of these molecules are instantly appealing in terms of trying to squeeze other atoms inside, and the outer surface of fullerene cages has a rich chemistry that can be exploited to make a wide range of derivatives.

From all this academic research, however, there are very few examples that have leapt out of the laboratory and into the commercial sector. Although the electron-accepting properties of C60 and its derivatives make them potentially useful components in bulk-heterojunction solar cells2 and endohedral metal fullerenes show promise as medical contrast agents3, 'real-world' applications of these compounds are few and far between. Nonetheless, the discovery of fullerenes was recognized with the award of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, a nod towards the more fundamental — rather than obviously practical — aspects of science.

Arguably the greatest contribution that the little carbon sphere has made over the past 25 years is not in what it actually does itself, but what it has inspired others to do. Pictures of words drawn with atoms, and Feynman's vision notwithstanding, fullerenes played their part in turning chemists towards the ideas and goals of nanotechnology. Not only that, but fullerenes offered a conceptual blueprint for some of the most widely studied nanomaterials today — extending a fullerene in a single dimension produces a carbon nanotube; cutting a nanotube open along its length and flattening it out gives a sheet of graphene.

Of course, not all nanotechnology is carbon-based, but these materials have hogged the limelight somewhat, and their structures often grace the front covers of books on the subject — and C60 is undoubtedly one of chemistry's iconic images. More importantly, if its bridge into popular culture through its similarity with the humble football serves to educate and inspire the scientists of tomorrow4, then C60 will have served a very important function.