C60 extraction

Kraetschmer, Lamb, Fostiropoulos and Huffman.

Off
Crystals of Buckminsterfullerene obtained by Kraetschmer and co-workers
Crystals of Buckminsterfullerene obtained by Kraetschmer and co-workers

One of the most amazing images of the 20th Century, crystals of elemental carbon!

Sir Harry Kroto


Don and Wolfgang Kraetschmer
Don and Wolfgang Kraetschmer

The Sussex effort 

Sir Harry Kroto's Nobel lecture (PDF, 1.25MB).

Sir Harry Kroto's .

Sir Harry Kroto, "Jonathan Hare extracted a C60/C70 mixture five days prior to the faxed manuscript of the great paper by Kraetschmer, Lamb, Fostiropoulos and Huffman arriving on my desk at Sussex!"

"It might be noted that the authors of  were given a preliminary copy of our paper before the work was completed and prior to the finished work (ie, with details of complete chromatograhic separation and the complete nmr spectrum above) being submitted."

C60 extraction diagram
C60 extraction diagram
C60 and 70 diagram
Jon Hare adjusting the carbon rods
Jon Hare adjusting the carbon rods
Amit Sarkar and Jon Hare
"Amit Sarkar and Jon Hare with the evaporator in which we made C60 prior to the K&H Nature paper. The apparatus which featured in the biggest scientific mistake I ever made!" Sir Harry Kroto
Harry Kroto and colleagues
The Sussex team: Harry Kroto, Ala’a Abdul Sada, Roger Taylor, Jon Hare and David Walton
Harry Kroto and Wolfgang Kraetschmer
Harry Kroto and Wolfgang Kraetschmer

Centres of excellence

The University's cross-faculty research centres harness our interdisciplinary expertise to solve the world's most pressing challenges.