On top of all cancer treatment applications, the various properties of Fullerenes also lend themselves to other uses, including in non-medical fields.
As you've learnt, Fullerenes can neutralise free radicals and reactive oxygen species. In places like the brain and the joints, such species can over long periods of time accumulate and cause damage to the tissue. This can lead to the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's due to the oxidative stress on individual neurons. This means that Fullerenes if in the vicinity can be used to protect these neurons, particularly Fullerenols, hydroxylated Fullerenes, which is called neuroprotection. Meanwhile where inflammatory processes in joints can cause cartilage degeneration, some of it associated with types of arthritis, Fullerene treatment can potentially inhibit them and help protect from their long term effects.
The antioxidant properties of Fullerenes can also make them useful in skincare. UV exposure from the sun is responsible for creating free radicals that damage skin tissue over time and contribute to aging effects. Fullerenes in skincare products, therefore, can help to mitigate such effects, and thanks to their small size they can penetrate the skin deeper for thoroughness compared to antioxidants such as vitamin C.
Fullerenes, with their small size and spherical structure, can act like ball bearings, rolling smoothly over surfaces and each other, which in moving mechanisms can help to significantly reduce friction. This is particularly useful in high pressure environments where traditional lubricants might break down.
On top of general toughness and thermal conductivity, Fullerenes are electrically conductive too thanks to the presence of free pairs of electrons in their structure. In addition, their spherical structure means they can efficiently conduct electron flow in any direction. This means they can find several uses in multiple electrical devices. In solar cells, where exposure to light energises electrons off of a donor molecules, Fullerenes can capture those electrons and move to allow a current to flow. In sensors, thanks to being highly selective electron acceptors, Fullerenes can readily interact with a target analyte and bind to it, creating a measurable change in electric conductivity that can be used to detect/identify it, even at small target concentrations. A large surface area with which to capture lots of analytes helps too.
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Fullerene is effective against wrinkles. (2010). Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 62(3), p.AB22. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2009.11.127. (Accessed: 14 March 2025).
Grebowski, J., Kazmierska, P. and Krokosz, A. (2013). Fullerenols as a New Therapeutic Approach in Nanomedicine. BioMed Research International, 2013, pp.1–9. doi:https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/751913. (Accessed: 14 March 2025)