Robert F. Curl, Jr.: Physical Chemist and Codiscoverer of Fullerenes
Robert F. Curl, Jr.: Physical Chemist and Codiscoverer of Fullerenes
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.2219056119
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发表时间：
2022-12-09
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Johnson, Bruce R.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Brooks, Philip R.;Weisman, R. Bruce;Johnson, Bruce R.
罗伯特·f·库尔（Bob）于2022年7月3日在德克萨斯州休斯顿去世，享年88岁。他于1933年8月23日出生在德克萨斯州的爱丽丝，这个小镇现在被誉为两位诺贝尔奖得主（科尔和詹姆斯·艾利森）的出生地。1985年，由鲍勃、哈里·克罗托和里克·斯莫利领导的莱斯大学实验小组发现了一类新的分子——富勒烯，这一发现震惊了科学界。这些新的碳的同素异形体已经导致了广泛的纳米碳材料，并启动了新兴的纳米技术领域。这一重大的科学进步在很大程度上归功于鲍勃·柯尔非凡的智慧和个人品质。在鲍勃的童年时期，他的母亲莱西和父亲老罗伯特·f·库尔（Robert F. Curl，又称弗洛伊德）送给他一套化学设备，这套设备激发了鲍勃对科学的兴趣，但却几乎毁掉了厨房的炉子。作为一名卫理公会牧师，弗洛伊德·库尔经常随家人搬家，直到在德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥担任行政职务并定居下来，在那里他在建立卫理公会医院方面发挥了重要作用。鲍勃很幸运，他的高中老师通过特殊项目培养了他的科学兴趣。他非常自豪的一个项目是建造一个有效的科特雷尔除尘器，这是一种静电装置，用于清除工业废气烟囱中的细颗粒。为了帮助测试，不吸烟的老师点燃了一支香烟，以提供所需的烟雾。
Robert F. Curl, Jr.(Bob) passed away on July 3, 2022 in Houston, Texas, at the age of 88. He was born on August 23, 1933 in Alice, Texas, a small town now celebrated as the birthplace of two Nobel Laureates (Curl and James Allison). In 1985, experiments at Rice University led by the team of Bob, Harry Kroto, and Rick Smalley galvanized the scientific world by discovering a novel class of molecules, the fullerenes. These new allotropes of carbon have since led to a broad range of nanocarbon materials and launched the burgeoning field of nanotechnology. This major scientific advance owes much to the remarkable intellect and personal qualities of Bob Curl.During Bob’s childhood, his mother Lessie, and father Robert F. Curl, Sr.(called Floyd) gave him a chemistry set that sparked Bob’s interest in science but that nearly destroyed the kitchen stove. As a Methodist minister, Floyd Curl moved frequently with his family until taking an administrative position and settling in San Antonio, Texas, where he played a major role in founding the Methodist Hospital. Bob was fortunate to have a high school teacher who nurtured his scientific interests with special projects. One project that he was quite proud of was building a working Cottrell precipitator, a type of electrostatic device for removing fine particles from industrial exhaust smokestacks. To help test it, the non-smoking teacher lit up a cigarette to provide the needed smoke.