Editing Fullerene (section)

===Further developments===
Kroto and the Rice team already discovered other fullerenes besides C<sub>60</sub>,<ref name=kroto1985/> and the list was much expanded in the following years. Carbon nanotubes [[Carbon nanotubes#Discovery|were first discovered and synthesized]] in 1991.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mraz |first=S.J. |date=14 April 2005 |title=A new buckyball bounces into town |website=[[Machine Design]] |url=http://machinedesign.com/ContentItem/60618/Anewbuckyballbouncesintotown.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013233853/http://machinedesign.com/ContentItem/60618/Anewbuckyballbouncesintotown.aspx |archive-date=13 October 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Iijima |first=Sumio |title=Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon |journal=Nature |volume=354 |issue=6348 |pages=56–58 |year=1991 |bibcode=1991Natur.354...56I |doi=10.1038/354056a0 |s2cid=4302490}}</ref>

After their discovery, minute quantities of fullerenes were found to be produced in [[soot|sooty flames]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Reilly |first1=P. T. A. |last2=Gieray |first2=R. A. |last3=Whitten |first3=W. B. |last4=Ramsey |first4=J. M. |date=2000 |title=Fullerene Evolution in Flame-Generated Soot |journal=Journal of the American Chemical Society |volume=122 |issue=47 |pages=11596–11601 |doi=10.1021/ja003521v |bibcode=2000JAChS.12211596R |issn=0002-7863}}</ref> and by [[lightning]] discharges in the atmosphere.<ref name=invWeb2010/> In 1992, fullerenes were found in a family of mineraloids known as [[shungite]]s in [[Karelia]], Russia.<ref name=buseck1992/>

The production techniques were improved by many scientists, including [[Donald Huffman]], [[Wolfgang Krätschmer]], [[Lowell D. Lamb]], and [[Konstantinos Fostiropoulos]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Krätschmer |first1=W. |last2=Lamb |first2=Lowell D. |last3=Fostiropoulos |first3=K. |last4=Huffman |first4=Donald R. |date=1990 |title=Solid C60: a new form of carbon |url=http://www.nature.com/articles/347354a0 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=347 |issue=6291 |pages=354–358 |bibcode=1990Natur.347..354K |doi=10.1038/347354a0 |issn=0028-0836 |s2cid=4359360}}</ref> Thanks to their efforts, by 1990 it was relatively easy to produce gram-sized samples of fullerene powder. [[Fullerene purification]] remains a challenge to chemists and to a large extent determines fullerene prices.

In 2010, the [[spectrum|spectral signatures]] of C<sub>60</sub> and C<sub>70</sub> were observed by NASA's [[Spitzer Space Telescope|Spitzer]] infrared telescope in a cloud of cosmic dust surrounding a star 6500 light years away.<ref name=cami2010/> Kroto commented: "This most exciting breakthrough provides convincing evidence that the buckyball has, as I long suspected, existed since time immemorial in the dark recesses of our galaxy."<ref name=bbc2010/> According to astronomer Letizia Stanghellini, "It’s possible that buckyballs from outer space provided seeds for life on Earth."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Atkinson |first=Nancy |date=27 October 2010 |title=Buckyballs Could Be Plentiful in the Universe |work=[[Universe Today]] |url=http://www.universetoday.com/76732/buckyballs-could-be-plentiful-in-the-universe |access-date=28 October 2010}}</ref> In 2019, ionized C<sub>60</sub> molecules were detected with the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] in the space between those stars.<ref name="SA-20190429">{{Cite news |last=Starr |first=Michelle |date=29 April 2019 |title=The Hubble Space Telescope Has Just Found Solid Evidence of Interstellar Buckyballs |work=ScienceAlert.com |url=https://www.sciencealert.com/the-hubble-space-telescope-has-found-evidence-of-interstellar-buckyballs |access-date=29 April 2019}}</ref><ref name="AJL-20190422">{{Cite journal |last=Cordiner, M.A. |display-authors=et al. |date=22 April 2019 |title=Confirming Interstellar C60 + Using the Hubble Space Telescope |journal=[[The Astrophysical Journal Letters]] |volume=875 |pages=L28 |arxiv=1904.08821 |bibcode=2019ApJ...875L..28C |doi=10.3847/2041-8213/ab14e5 |number=2 |s2cid=121292704 |doi-access=free }}</ref>