text: In 1985, on the basis of the Sussex studies and the stellar discoveries, laboratory experiments (with co-workers James R. Heath, Sean C. O'Brien, Yuan Liu, Robert Curl and Richard Smalley at Rice University) which simulated the chemical reactions in the atmospheres of the red giant stars demonstrated that stable C molecules could form spontaneously from a condensing carbon vapour.  The co-investigators directed lasers at graphite and examined the results. The C molecule is a molecule with the same symmetry pattern as a football, consisting of 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons of carbon atoms. Kroto named the molecule buckminsterfullerene, after Buckminster Fuller who had conceived of the geodesic domes, as the dome concept had provided a clue to the likely structure of the new species.
  In 1985, the C discovery caused Kroto to shift the focus of his research from spectroscopy in order to probe the consequences of the C structural concept (and prove it correct) and to exploit the implications for chemistry and material science.
  This research is significant for the discovery of a new allotrope of carbon known as a fullerene.  Other allotropes of carbon include graphite, diamond and graphene. Krotos 1985 paper entitled "C60:  Buckminsterfullerene", published with colleagues J. R. Heath, S. C. OBrien, R. F. Curl, and R. E. Smalley, was honored by a Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Award from the Division of History of Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, presented to Rice University in 2015. The discovery of fullerenes was recognized in 2010 by the designation of a National Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society at the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology at Rice University in Houston, Texas.