Discovery of fullerenes, hollow cage-like carbon molecules, triggered a detailed research of carbon nanostructures and eventually reshaped the whole field of nanoscience. One of the specific properties of fullerenes is the free room inside cage, which can be filled with atoms, molecules or clusters – resulting in endohedral fullerenes. In this lecture, the milestones in the development of the field will be discussed. We will particularly focus on endohedral fullerenes filled with lanthanide ions. This discussion will lead us to the second subject of the lecture, single molecule magnetism, and its particular realization in the form of metallofullerenes.
Discovery of fullerenes, hollow cage-like carbon molecules, triggered a detailed research of carbon nanostructures and eventually reshaped the whole field of nanoscience. One of the specific properties of fullerenes is the free room inside cage, which can be filled with atoms, molecules or clusters – resulting in endohedral fullerenes. In this lecture, the milestones in the development of the field will be discussed. We will particularly focus on endohedral fullerenes filled with lanthanide ions. This discussion will lead us to the second subject of the lecture, single molecule magnetism, and its particular realization in the form of metallofullerenes.