The development and application of fullerene is of great value, but production costs still need to be reduced.

Fullerene is a hollow molecule composed of carbon, with shapes ranging from spherical, ellipsoidal, cylindrical, and tubular. Fullerene is non-toxic, has poor solubility in most solvents, is soluble in aromatic hydrocarbon solvents, and has excellent physical and chemical properties, such as excellent stability, high hardness, superconductivity, catalysis, optics, etc. It is a new type of nanocarbon material with huge research and application value.

Fullerene is an allotrope of carbon, structurally similar to graphite. The difference is that graphite has a six-membered ring, while fullerene has six-membered rings, five-membered rings, seven-membered rings, etc. The smallest fullerene is C20, and common ones include C60, C70, etc. Among them, C60 is the easiest to prepare and is the type with the most technical and application research at present. In the mid-1980s, the first fullerene was developed. Due to its unique physical and chemical properties, it has attracted great attention, and the number of related research institutions and research companies has continued to increase.

According to the “Fulerene Industry In-depth Market Research and Investment Strategy Suggestions Report 2022-2026” released by the Industrial Research Center, currently In overseas markets, the main fullerene research institutions and manufacturers include Rice University in the United States, Nano-C in the United States, BuckyUSA in the United States, Mitsubishi VC60 in Japan, and Frontier Carbon in Japan. Among them, Japan’s Mitsubishi VC60 is the world’s largest fullerene producer. In the Chinese market, the main fullerene research institutions and production companies include the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen University, Funa New Materials, Dade Technology, Chengdu Organic Chemistry, Carbon Valley Technology, etc. Among them, Carbon Valley Technology established and put into operation my country’s first ton-level fullerene production line.

Fullerenes can be widely used in new materials, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, energy, semiconductors, cosmetics, aerospace and other industries. In the field of new materials, fullerene can be used to manufacture superconducting materials, nanomaterials, etc.; in the chemical industry, it can be used as a catalyst; in the pharmaceutical field, it can produce anti-cancer drugs, HIV drugs, etc.; in the energy field, it is used to manufacture solar cells. Key material; in the semiconductor field, it can be used as electronic materials and manufacturing chips; in the cosmetic field, it can be used as a dispersant and antioxidant factor.

Fullerene has huge economic value. In the early days, only a small amount of fullerene was produced in the world. Its price was high and its sales were strictly controlled. For example, the fullerene produced by Mitsubishi VC60 was not sold outside and was only used in the domestic military industry. In recent years, with the continuous advancement of technology, global fullerene production has gradually increased, but the cost is still high. Therefore, although fullerene has great application value, the global market size is still small at this stage. In the future, the development of the fullerene industry will still require continuous improvement of production processes and reduction of production costs.

Industry analysts said that in 2021, global fullerene sales will be approximately US$260 million; it is expected that from 2021 to 2026, global fullerene sales The fullerene market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of close to 8.5%, and sales will reach approximately US$390 million by 2026. Globally, China’s new materials industry is developing rapidly, with high enthusiasm for fullerene research and application. The scale of the domestic fullerene industry is gradually expanding. It is expected that between 2021 and 2026, the growth rate of China’s fullerene market will be higher than that of the global market. Average.