Consider the following statements: Statement-I: Buckyballs, also known as fullerenes, are fascinating carbon molecules that resem…

Question

Consider the following statements: Statement-I: Buckyballs, also known as fullerenes, are fascinating carbon molecules that resemble soccer balls Statement-II: Fly Ash from thermal power plants contain buckyballs Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

1. A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
2. B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
3. C. Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect (Correct answer)
4. D. Statement-I is incorrect but Statement-II is correct

Correct Answer

Option C — Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect.

Key Points

• Statement-I is correct. Buckyballs, or fullerenes, are carbon molecules whose structure closely resembles a football. The archetype is C₆₀ — buckminsterfullerene — with 60 carbon atoms arranged in 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons, exactly the pattern of panels on a football.
• Statement-II is treated as incorrect. Fly ash from thermal power plants is composed principally of silica, alumina, iron oxide and calcium oxide, along with unburnt carbon and trace elements, in the form of fine glassy spheres. It is not regarded as a source of buckyballs, and no fullerene component figures in the characterisation of fly ash used for cement, bricks or road embankments.
• Since Statement-I stands and Statement-II does not, the answer is C.

Additional Information

• Fullerenes were discovered in 1985 by Harold Kroto, Robert Curl and Richard Smalley, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996. The name honours the architect Buckminster Fuller, whose geodesic domes the structure resembles.
• The allotropes of carbon and their structures:
  • Diamond — each carbon sp³ hybridised and bonded tetrahedrally to four others in a rigid three-dimensional lattice; the hardest natural substance, and an electrical insulator.
  • Graphite — sp² hybridised layers of hexagons held by weak van der Waals forces; soft, slippery, and a good conductor because of the delocalised fourth electron.
  • Fullerenes — closed cages, C₆₀ being the best known, with C₇₀ and larger cages also stable.
  • Graphene — a single atomic layer of graphite, isolated in 2004 by Geim and Novoselov (Nobel Prize 2010); exceptionally strong and highly conductive.
  • Carbon nanotubes — rolled graphene cylinders, with tensile strength many times that of steel at a fraction of the weight.
• Applications of fullerenes include drug delivery vehicles, superconductors when doped with alkali metals, lubricants, photovoltaics and antioxidants in research settings.
• Fly ash management in India is governed by MoEFCC notifications requiring 100% utilisation by thermal power plants. It is used in Portland Pozzolana Cement, fly ash bricks, road embankments and mine filling, and its unmanaged disposal in ash ponds remains a significant environmental hazard.