They look pretty big, are Fullerenes nanoparticles?
Fullerenes are manufactured nanoparticles and are way under the 100nm needed to meet the current cosmetic definition. In fact they are under 10nm individually if you can get them to stay separated! Like many nanoparticles fullerenes like to form aggregates due to particle-particle attractions so the fullerene in your skin cream is unlikely to be that small. They have the potential to act as delivery systems for highly potent actives plus they act as chemical sponges that can mop up free-radicals very efficiently. Q) Are they natural? A) Fullerene compounds do exist in nature but the grade used in cosmetics is manufactured synthetically by generating a large electrical current between two graphite electrodes in an inert atmosphere. This yields a mix of fullerenes which are then purified until the structure that you are after is isolated. Q) OK, so what does the fullerene that these cosmetic people are talking about look like? A) It is a hexagonal shaped hollow cages produced by a Mitsub
