A Review on Fullerenes and its Applications in Health Care Sector

Fullerene, an allotrope of carbon, has attracted significant recognition in various sciences since its discovery in 1985. The studies of its physical, chemical, and biological aspects have brought encouraging information. The unique, cage-like structure and its scope for derivatization make it an outstanding therapeutic agent. Hence, research into its synthesis has become a hopeful area worldwide. It has been confirmed that fullerene exists near carbon stars, in interstellar space, in places where lightning has struck previously, in the vicinity of volcano craters, and so on. In 1992, it was announced that natural fullerene had been found from Shungite in Karelia, Russia. The occurrence of natural fullerene brought about a dramatic change in the scientific world. Identification and extraction of natural fullerene has become an emerging field after discovering fullerene by geological materials. Fullerene molecules have been extracted worldwide. Climatic conditions also affect the formation process of natural fullerene. This chapter reviews the different places from where natural fullerene was extracted and the methods through which fullerene was extracted. Fullerene and its derivatives have excellent applications in the health care sector. In the biological field, they are reported as potential antiviral, antioxidant agents. Photoexcitation of fullerenes is also reported using the perylene diimide (PDI) technique. In addition to this, fullerene derivatives are also used as a carrier for serum protein by the material-enhanced laser desorption/ionization (MELDI) technique. Fullerene and its derivatives have excellent applications in the health care sector. Many constraints affect fullerene formation, such as inhibitory factors like oxygen, nitrogen, and other non-inert gases. Heymann et al. proposed the biogenic model of fullerene formation. They postulated that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are formed from algae, were transformed to fullerene during regional metamorphism. The fulgurites from the sheep mountain contained a detectable amount of fullerene. Fullerenes are found only in areas where many high-energy conditions exist, like lightning, wildfire, etc., at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, or meteoritic impacts. Fullerene was extracted from coal in Yunnan Province, southern China. Highly carbonized, glass-like, solid bitumen was reported from the sedimentary volcano sequence of the Neoproterozoic age of the Bohemian Massif. Soil collections f