Nickname for fullerene (see below). Usually applied to the prototypical C60 molecule.

a spheroidal fullerene; the first known example of a fullerene

geodesic spheres named for visionary engineer R. Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic sphere. Buckyballs are strong, rigid natural molecules arranged in a series of interlocking hexagonal shapes, forming structures that resemble soccer balls. One individual buckyball comprises exactly 60 carbon atoms. In 1996, Richard Smalley received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his discovery of buckyballs.

Popular name for a Buckminsterfullerene.