How does the structure of fullerene differ from that of graphite and diamond?
Fullerene is an arrangement of crystalline carbon and falls under the category of diamond and graphite allotrophs. In late 20th century this form of carbon was isolated and has a spherical shape like a soccer-ball containing 60 carbon units. They got some use in semiconductor application when stretched into a tubular fibre. On the other hand, graphite is a layer structure and it is hexagonal. Diamond is tetrahedral. The former is conductor of electricity and the latter is not. “Bucky balls” of fullerene is chemically inert.
