This review concerns the fullerene black, a poorly known nano-sized carbon material, the insoluble residue after extraction of fullerenes from fullerene soot produced by arc evaporation of carbon material (usually graphite) in a helium atmosphere. This by-product of the production of fullerenes, whose yield reaches 80 wt %, is a finely dispersed material with a particle size of 40-50 nm. It includes amorphous carbon, graphitized particles, and graphite. Test reactions showed the presence in the structure of fullerene black of curved surfaces, and, like fullerenes, of alternating non-conjugated simple and double bonds. In addition to the double bonds, its structure includes dangling bonds in the concentration not higher than one per 1200 carbon atoms. This nano-carbon can not be graphitized, enters into the reactions of nucleophilic addition, and absorbs oxygen and water from the atmosphere. The fullerene black as was shown activate hydrogen and thus to undergoes to a hydrogenolysis without a catalyst and to catalyzes the dehydrogenation and dehydrocyclization of alkanes. This carbon nanomaterial can be used as a sorbent for organics, as a catalyst support, as a tribotechnical additive; and it can interact with carbide-forming metals and reinforces their surface.
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