How are fullerenes produced?
By burning coal
By synthesizing carbon molecules in a laboratory
By mining graphite
By extracting carbon from diamonds
Fullerenes are typically produced by synthesizing carbon molecules in a laboratory using a variety of techniques, including arc discharge and laser ablation.
Fullerene preparation starts with the production of fullerene-rich soot. The method that was used to produce fullerene involved sending a large electric current between two nearby graphite electrodes in an inert atmosphere. The electric arc that was created vaporized the carbon into a plasma that then cooled into the sooty residue.