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NEWS & VIEWS NATURE|Vol 438|22/29 December 2005

OBITUARY

Richard E. Smalley (1943–2005)Chemist and champion of nanotechnology.

were being formed by the condensation ofspecies ejected from carbon-rich stars. Whenthe experiments were finally performed atthe facility in September 1985, proof for theformation of carbon chains between 7 and 12atoms long, the size range of the astronomicalobservations, was indeed found.

The experiments also showed strikingevidence that more interesting, much largercarbon clusters of between 40 and 80 atomswere being formed simultaneously. Theparticularly high abundance of the C60 clustercould only be explained if it were a stable,closed cage with 20 hexagonal and 12pentagonal interlocking faces, rather like afootball, or soccer ball. Because of thetransatlantic conflict between theexperimentalists over the exact name of theball and the sport it belonged to — andbecause the structure was reminiscent of the geodesic domes of the architectBuckminster Fuller — the C60 structure wasnamed buckminsterfullerene. A moregeneral examination of the number of carbon atoms in the other, differently sizedclusters that were found led to the gradualrealization that they must all be carbon cagesconsisting of exactly 12 pentagons and anumber of hexagons that grew withincreasing cluster size.

Efforts in Smalley’s laboratory to make amacroscopic sample of buckminsterfullerenewere abandoned fairly quickly afterexperiments to vaporize a graphite rod usinga laser left no trace of C60. The isolation in1990 of a mixture of C60 and C70, using anapparatus consisting of a carbon arc inside abell jar, seemed ridiculously simple comparedwith Smalley’s high-tech approach. Smalleyreinvestigated the laser vaporizationtechnique, and found that the amount of C60 produced depended strongly on thetemperature of the wall of the quartz tube that surrounded the graphite rod: no C60 was obtained when it was at roomtemperature, but there was a 20% yield at 1,100 �C.

The isolation of single-walled carbonnanotubes (SWNTs), announced in June1993, soon drove Smalley’s attention andconsiderable powers to another domain. The development of synthesis techniques for SWNTs was a challenge unlike anythingSmalley had encountered before 1990, andvirtually all that was known was the need fora metal catalyst — iron, cobalt or nickel. SoonSmalley found that, by impregnating thesemetals into the graphite rods used to makeC60 in the laser vaporization experiments, he

Towards the end of his life, Richard Smalleyhad begun to say, “If it ain’t tubes, we don’t doit”. He had become fascinated by the prospectthat fullerenes — the massive carbonmolecules with distinctive geometricalshapes that he had co-discovered in 1985 —might be re-formed into single-wallednanotubes with exciting properties. Inparticular, he dreamt of making a metallicallyconducting cable of billions of these carbonnanotubes, which, for the same weight,would be many times stronger than steel.Smalley’s time ran out before he achieved thatgoal; nevertheless, the legacy of this researchalready extends far beyond the confines ofmaterials science, to such diverse fields asenergy technology and medicine.

The single-minded obsession that Smalley,who died on 28 October, brought tonanotube research was in fact rather out ofcharacter. In his early career as anindependent researcher, he had tended tocreate a new research field about every twoyears, often abandoning them with equalfrequency. The tenor of this period was set inpostdoctoral work at the University ofChicago, where he pioneered a technique thatcombined laser excitation of molecules withtheir cooling by supersonic jets of gas. He demonstrated that the method greatlysimplified the complex spectra of themolecules’ energy levels, and allowedcomplexes bound together by very weak van der Waals interactions to be created andobserved. On arriving, in 1976, at RiceUniversity in Houston, Texas — where he wasto stay for the rest of his career — he rapidlycreated a series of spectroscopic tools basedon this technique that are used to this day.Smalley’s approach was to conceive a way to investigate a chemical system or phenomenon, construct the necessarysophisticated apparatus, do enough work to show the true potential of the method, and move on. Each new project was betterthan the last, offering further valuablescientific information.

The discovery of the fullerenes, which ledto his Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996, grewout of one such project. In this, Smalley wasstudying jet-cooled molecular clustersformed by the condensation of laser-vaporized metals or semiconductors. InMarch 1984, the British chemist Harry Kroto,whose radio astronomy observations haddetected long carbon-chain compounds ininterstellar clouds, visited Rice. Kroto saw thevaporizing graphite in Smalley’s apparatus asa way of testing his idea that these chains

could create SWNTs in the form of ropescontaining more than a hundred individualtubes. Between 1993 and 2005, Smalleyfound a generally better way of making thetubes, as well as ways of cutting them up,performing chemical reactions on them andproducing them in solution. In the last weekof his life, desperately ill with leukaemia, hewas enthusiastically receiving progressreports in his hospital bed and suggestingnew ideas and experiments.

Rick Smalley was a remarkable person,both professionally and personally. He had two sons almost thirty years different in age, and four wives — the first two ofwhom were his guests at the Nobel ceremonyin 1996 (when he himself was single).Everyone got along amiably, both formerwives seeming to have a wonderful time. As his end neared, Smalley’s fourth wifeDeborah and older son Chad cared for him constantly.

Smalley’s ability to vacuum upinformation, organize it and use it for creative scientific endeavour was prodigious.He always tackled the most challengingproblems, was indefatigable in the pursuit of answers, and in all arguments met logicwith logic. Smalley had a whimsical sense ofhumour and tremendous personal charisma.Others usually found it to their advantage tofollow his lead, as collaboration with Smalleygenerally resulted in excellent scientificresults. Smalley’s persuasiveness came most effectively to bear in the campaign to convince the US government to create itsNational Nanotechnology Initiative, a greatachievement in public policy. ■

Robert F. CurlRobert F. Curl is in the Department of Chemistry,Rice University, Houston, Texas 77251-1892, USA.He shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry withRichard Smalley and Harry Kroto.

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