Why do fullerenes have much lower melting and boiling points than other carbon forms?

Answer 1

Diamond has got a giant covalent structure which carbon atoms hold each other by strong covalent bond . However, in buckminsterfullerene, atoms packed closely together but bound by weak Van der Waal's force. Thus, buckminsterfullerene requires less heat to overcome the the attractive force than that of diamond.

Answer 2

Fullerenes have lower melting and boiling points than other carbon forms because they have weak intermolecular forces between their molecules. The spherical shape of fullerenes results in a smaller surface area for contact compared to other carbon structures with strong covalent bonds. This leads to weaker interactions between fullerenes, requiring less energy to break apart the molecules, resulting in lower melting and boiling points.

Answer 3

because the balls are held by VDW forces and are therefore easy to separate

Answer 4

Many more bonds which have to be broken all requiring energy - so just the shear number of bonds because of its structure

Answer 5

They have weaker bonds than other carbon forms which means that they need less energy to boil.