Taken From www.nanoroadmap.com


"Fullerenes are a molecular form of pure carbon discovered in 1985 (in fact, the third
known form of pure molecular carbon after diamond and graphite). They are cagelike
structures of carbon atoms built up from pentagons and hexagons. The most
abundant form produced is buckminsterfullerene or buckyball (C60), the roundest
molecule known, with 60 carbon atoms arranged in a spherical structure. There are
higher fullerenes containing more carbon atoms, but C60 remains the easiest and
cheapest to produce. Fullerenes share many properties with carbon nanotubes (see
section 2.9), having in common also many production processes. Additional
structures related to fullerenes include rings with more than 6 atoms (i.e. 7 or 8
atoms)."

"Health care and medical applications: antioxidant properties of fullerenes have
proved successful for eliminating free radicals due to structural properties
(structure of the cage, bonding configuration and high number of available
bonding sites). This has proven to be useful for cosmetic applications or in the
reduction of neural damage caused in some diseases"

"Nano-C claims that its fullerene second-generation technology is a breakthrough
because it provides high purity (levels above 95%) and high throughput
simultaneously (eliminating the need for post-processing, which usually accounts for
around 85% of the total production cost), thereby reducing the cost of fullerenes to
less than one tenth the cost of previous processes. Nano-C claims to be able to
reduced the price of purified C60 below $ 200/kg, against previous technologies’
prices higher than $ 15.000 (prohibitive in general for any commercial application).
Nano-C has also estimated fullerene (or fullerene derivatives) selling prices on their
respective markets: $ 100.000/kg for the Electronic Thin Film Polymers, $ 10.000/kg
for pharmaceuticals, $ 1.000/kg for Personal Care, Cosmetics and Nutrition, and $
300/kg for polymer additives."


"According to multiple research studies on the antioxidant action of fullerenes, they
have demonstrated to act like a sponge for free radicals, effectively neutralizing their
power to damage tissue. They have shown to be up to a hundred times more
effective than such commonly used compounds as vitamin E and coenzyme Q10.
Additional factors, such as promising results in preliminary toxicity tests and their
suitability for water-soluble and lipid-soluble derivatives, reveal fullerenes as a very
promising antioxidant material for health and personal care products (skin and burn
creams) and nutritional supplements. Antioxidants could also be used to fight free
radical action in other common processes such as food spoilage, polymer
deterioration, and rust in metals."

If Interested you can read the full report in :

http://www.nanoroadmap.it/sectoral%20reports/sect%20report%20materials.pdf