1998 – Parthasarathy – Natural fullerenes in shungite

We report on the occurrence of fullerenes in Proterozoic shungite (~2 Ga) from the shungite mine, Kondopoga, Karelia, Russia (62.12°N 34.17°E). The presence of fullerenes has been confirmed by mass spectrometry, with peaks at 360 and 720 amu ( atomic mass unit), powder X-ray diffraction showing ten diffraction peaks corresponding to the fullerite structure with a = 1.4201(5) nm, and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic studies, showing a peak at 143.2 ppm. In the Kondopoga shungite mine, fullerenes occur in silty shales that have experienced greenshist facies metamorphism.

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