Editing Richard Smalley (section)

==Career==
In 1976, Smalley joined [[Rice University]].<ref name="Hargittai"/>  In 1982, he was appointed to the Gene and Norman Hackerman Chair in Chemistry at Rice. He helped to found the Rice Quantum Institute in 1979, serving as chairman from 1986 to 1996. In 1990, he became also a professor in the department of physics.  In 1990, he helped to found the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology.  In 1996, he was appointed its director.<ref name="Franklin">{{cite web|title=Richard E. Smalley|url=https://www.fi.edu/laureates/richard-e-smalley|website=Franklin Institute|access-date=July 19, 2016|date=January 15, 2014}}</ref>

He became a member of the [[National Academy of Sciences]] in 1990, and the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1991.<ref name="Franklin"/>

===Fullerenes===
Smalley's research in [[physical chemistry]] investigated the formation of inorganic and semiconductor clusters using pulsed molecular beams and time-of-flight [[mass spectrometry]]. As a consequence of this expertise, Robert Curl introduced him to Harry Kroto in order to investigate a question about the constituents of [[Cosmic dust|astronomical dust]].  These are carbon-rich grains expelled by old stars such as [[R Coronae Borealis]]. The result of this collaboration was the discovery of C<sub>60</sub> (known as Buckyballs) and the fullerenes as the third [[allotropy|allotropic]] form of carbon.<ref>{{cite book |last=Edwards |first=Steven A.  |title=The Nanotech Pioneers: Where Are They Taking Us?  |location=Weinheim |publisher=Wiley-VCH |date=2006 |pages=64–66}}</ref>

Smalley recognized that the structure of C<sub>60</sub> was like that of a soccer ball after cutting and tapping hexagons together in a three-dimensional manner, utilizing 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Richard E. Smalley |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/14078.html |access-date=April 22, 2022 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref> He was also responsible for the name of C<sub>60</sub>, naming it after Buckminster Fuller, an American architect who was known for his use of geodesic domes in his designs. <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Buntrock |first=Robert E. |date=September 21, 1998 |title=The Most Beautiful Molecule. The Discovery of the Buckyball. By Hugh Aldersey-Williams. John Wiley & Sons: NY 1995. 340 pp. incl. index. ISBN 0-471-19333-X (Paper) Price: $16.95. |url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ci9804239 |journal=Journal of Chemical Information and Computer Sciences |language=en |volume=38 |issue=5 |pages=939–940 |doi=10.1021/ci9804239 |issn=0095-2338}}</ref>

The research that earned Kroto, Smalley and Curl the Nobel Prize mostly comprised three articles.  First was the discovery of C<sub>60</sub> in the November 14, 1985, issue of ''Nature'', "C<sub>60</sub>: Buckminsterfullerene".<ref name="C60 publication">{{cite journal|last1=Kroto|first1=H. W.|last2=Heath|first2=J. R.|last3=O'Brien|first3=S. C.|last4=Curl|first4=R. F.|last5=Smalley|first5=R. E.|title=C60: Buckminsterfullerene|journal=Nature|date=November 14, 1985|volume=318|issue=6042|pages=162–163|doi=10.1038/318162a0|bibcode=1985Natur.318..162K|s2cid=4314237}}</ref> The second article detailed the discovery of the [[endohedral fullerenes]] in "Lanthanum Complexes of Spheroidal Carbon Shells" in the ''Journal of the American Chemical Society'' (1985).<ref name="Heath">{{cite journal|last1=Heath|first1=J. R.|last2=O'Brien|first2=S. C.|last3=Zhang|first3=Q.|last4=Liu|first4=Y.|last5=Curl|first5=R. F.|last6=Tittel|first6=F. K.|author-link6=Frank K. Tittel|last7=Smalley|first7=R. E.|title=Lanthanum complexes of spheroidal carbon shells|journal=Journal of the American Chemical Society|date=December 1985|volume=107|issue=25|pages=7779–7780|doi=10.1021/ja00311a102}}</ref>  The third announced the discovery of the fullerenes in "Reactivity of Large Carbon Clusters: Spheroidal Carbon Shells and Their Possible Relevance to the Formation and Morphology of Soot" in the ''Journal of Physical Chemistry'' (1986).<ref name="Zhang">{{cite journal|last1=Zhang|first1=Q. L.|last2=O'Brien|first2=S. C.|last3=Heath|first3=J. R.|last4=Liu|first4=Y.|last5=Curl|first5=R. F.|last6=Kroto|first6=H. W.|last7=Smalley|first7=R. E.|title=Reactivity of large carbon clusters: spheroidal carbon shells and their possible relevance to the formation and morphology of soot|journal=The Journal of Physical Chemistry|date=February 1986|volume=90|issue=4|pages=525–528|doi=10.1021/j100276a001}}</ref>

Although only three people can be cited for a Nobel Prize, graduate students [[James R. Heath]], Yuan Liu, and [[Sean C. O'Brien]] participated in the work. Smalley mentioned Heath and O'Brien in his Nobel Lecture. Heath went on to become a professor at the [[California Institute of Technology]] (Caltech) and O'Brien joined [[Texas Instruments]] and is now at MEMtronics.  Yuan Liu is a Senior Staff Scientist at [[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/549395/Richard-E-Smalley|title=Richard E. Smalley|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=October 24, 2023 }}</ref>

This research is significant for the discovery of a new allotrope of carbon known as a [[fullerene]].  Other [[allotropes of carbon]] include [[graphite]], diamond and [[graphene]]. Harry Kroto's 1985 paper entitled "C60: Buckminsterfullerine", published with colleagues J. R. Heath, S. C. O'Brien, R. F. Curl, and R. E. Smalley, was honored by a Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Award from the Division of History of Chemistry of the [[American Chemical Society]], presented to Rice University in 2015.<ref name="Award"/><ref name="Breakthrough"/> The discovery of fullerenes was recognized in 2010 by the designation of a [[National Historic Chemical Landmarks|National Historic Chemical Landmark]] by the American Chemical Society at the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology at Rice University in Houston, Texas.<ref name="ChemLandmark"/>

===Nanotechnology===
Following nearly a decade's worth of research into the formation of alternate fullerene compounds (e.g. C<sub>28</sub>, C<sub>70</sub>), as well as the synthesis of endohedral [[metallofullerenes]] (M@C<sub>60</sub>), reports of the identification of [[carbon nanotube]] structures led Smalley to begin investigating their iron-catalyzed synthesis.<ref name="Ghosh">{{cite book|last1=Ghosh|first1=Pallab|title=Colloid and interface science.|date=2009|publisher=Phi Learning|location=[S.l.]|isbn=978-81-203-3857-9|page=410|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5j3jt06Fcs8C&pg=PA410}}</ref>

As a consequence of this research, Smalley was able to persuade the administration of Rice University, under then-president [[S. Malcolm Gillis|Malcolm Gillis]], to create Rice's Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) focusing on any aspect of [[molecular nanotechnology]].<ref name="Death">{{cite news|last1=Boyd|first1=Jade|title=Nanotech pioneer, Nobel laureate Richard Smalley dead at 62|url=http://news.rice.edu/2005/10/28/nanotech-pioneer-nobel-laureate-richard-smalley-dead-at-62/|access-date=July 18, 2016|work=Rice University News and Media|date=October 28, 2005}}</ref><ref name="Boyd">{{cite news|last1=Boyd|first1=Jade|title=Rice remembers Nobel laureate Richard Smalley|url=http://news.rice.edu/2005/11/03/rice-remembers-nobel-laureate-richard-smalley/|access-date=July 18, 2016|work=Rice University News and Media|date=November 3, 2005|archive-date=April 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418204537/http://news.rice.edu/2005/11/03/rice-remembers-nobel-laureate-richard-smalley/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Almond">{{cite news|last1=Almond|first1=B. J.|title=In memoriam: President Emeritus Malcolm Gillis|url=http://news.rice.edu/2015/10/04/malcolm-gillis-rices-sixth-president-dies-of-cancer/|access-date=July 18, 2016|work=Rice University News and Media|date=October 4, 2015|archive-date=November 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107111033/http://news.rice.edu/2015/10/04/malcolm-gillis-rices-sixth-president-dies-of-cancer/|url-status=dead}}</ref>  It was renamed The Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology after Smalley's death in 2005,<ref name="InterNano">{{cite news|title=The Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology|url=http://www.internano.org/node/1522|access-date=July 18, 2016|work=InterNano|archive-date=July 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701190358/http://internano.org/node/1522|url-status=dead}}</ref> and has since merged with the Rice Quantum Institute, becoming the Smalley-Curl Institute (SCI) in 2015.<ref name="Smalley-Curl">{{cite news|last1=Boyd|first1=Jade|title=Rice merges two institutes to form Smalley-Curl Institute|url=http://news.rice.edu/2015/05/22/rice-merges-two-institutes-to-form-smalley-curl-institute/|access-date=July 18, 2016|work=Rice University News and Media|date=May 22, 2015|archive-date=October 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001053056/http://news.rice.edu/2015/05/22/rice-merges-two-institutes-to-form-smalley-curl-institute/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Smalley's latest research was focused on carbon nanotubes, specifically focusing on the [[chemical synthesis]] side of nanotube research. He is well known for his group's invention of the high-pressure [[carbon monoxide]] (HiPco) method of producing large batches of high-quality nanotubes.<ref name="Harris">{{cite book|last1=Harris|first1=Peter J. F.|title=Carbon nanotubes and related structures : new materials for the twenty-first century|date=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-00533-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UfBXDPdrAjUC&pg=PA40}}</ref> Smalley spun off his work into a company, Carbon Nanotechnologies Inc. and associated [[nanotechnology|nanotechnologies]].<ref name="Sparks">{{cite book|last1=Sparks|first1=Sherron|title=Nanotechnology : business applications and commercialization|date=2012|publisher=CRC Press|location=Boca Raton, FL|isbn=978-1-4398-4521-9|pages=1–2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2G_RBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1|access-date=July 18, 2016}}</ref>

Smalley and his lab worked solely in this area of study and nothing else for approximately 10 years, up until the end of his life. His research lab carried the slogan "If it ain't tubes, we don't do it" proudly.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Halford |first=Bethany |date=October 9, 2006 |title=THE WORLD ACCORDING TO RICK: Richard Smalley left his mark on science by laying the foundation for nanotechnology as we know it, then he tried to save the world |url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/cen-v084n041.p013 |journal=Chemical & Engineering News Archive |language=en |volume=84 |issue=41 |pages=13–19 |doi=10.1021/cen-v084n041.p013 |issn=0009-2347}}</ref> 

===Dispute on molecular assemblers===
{{main|Drexler–Smalley debate on molecular nanotechnology}}

He was an outspoken [[Scientific scepticism|skeptic]] of the idea of [[molecular assembler]]s, as advocated by [[K. Eric Drexler]]. His main scientific objections, which he termed the "fat fingers problem" and the "sticky fingers problem", argued against the feasibility of molecular assemblers being able to precisely select and place individual atoms. He also believed that Drexler's speculations about [[Gray goo|apocalyptic dangers of molecular assemblers]] threatened the public support for development of nanotechnology.<ref name="Ford">{{cite book|last1=Ford|first1=Martin|title=Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future|date=2015|publisher=Oneworld Publications|pages=240–241|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hB1fCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT168|isbn=978-1-78074-750-7}}</ref>  He debated Drexler in an exchange of letters which were published in ''[[Chemical & Engineering News]]'' as a point-counterpoint feature.<ref name="Baum">{{cite journal|last1=Baum|first1=Rudy|title=Nanotechnology: Drexler and Smalley make the case for and against 'molecular assemblers'|journal=Chemical & Engineering News|date=December 1, 2003|volume=81|issue=48|pages=37–42|url=http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/8148/8148counterpoint.html|access-date=July 18, 2016|doi=10.1021/cen-v081n048.p037}}</ref>