Introducing Boron Buckyballs
7th June 2026
Chemists have observed a boron buckminsterfullerene for the first time, providing experimental evidence for an 80-atom cage whose existence has been debated since 2007 (Chem. Sci. 2026, DOI: 10.1039/d6sc02674e).
Buckminsterfullerenes, or buckyballs, are hollow, soccer ball–shaped molecular cages first discovered in carbon. Their discovery launched a new branch of nanoscience. Boron, carbon’s electron-deficient neighbor in the periodic table, has long been considered a candidate for its own fullerene.
“Boron is known as the rule breaker in chemistry,” says Lai-Sheng Wang of Brown University, who led the experimental work. “For 80 atoms to exhibit this structure—I still find it incredible.”