Key Laboratory of Interface Science and Engineering in Advanced Materials (Taiyuan University of Technology),Ministry of Education, Taiyuan 030024, China;
As an important member of the fullerene family, nano onionlike fullerenes (NOLFs) have a unique hollow cage and concentric shell structure, which endow them with some special properties. Based on these properties, many potential applications, such as energy storage materials, highperformance and hightemperature wearresistance materials, superconductive materials and biomaterials, have been widely proposed. This review summarizes some of the major achievements in the field of NOLFs, including structure, preparation, growth mechanism, purification, functionalization, and properties. Possible applications are also suggested.