12.05.2026 · 5 min read
Author: The AURONN® expert team
Biological fullerenes. The Nobel molecule that changed cosmetology
In 1985 three scientists — Harold Kroto, Robert Curl and Richard Smalley — discovered a new, spherical form of carbon: fullerenes. A molecule with a structure resembling a football, built from sixty carbon atoms, proved so groundbreaking that in 1996 its discoverers received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Over the following decades fullerenes fascinated scientists in fields from electronics to medicine. Cosmetology reached for them for one reason: they are the most effective known scavengers of free radicals.
Why the carbon cage works so effectively
Classic antioxidants — vitamin C or E — neutralise free radicals in a “one-to-one” reaction, using themselves up irreversibly in the process. A fullerene works differently: its spherical cage can deactivate up to 34 radicals at once without being destroyed.
It is precisely this mechanism that makes fullerenes perform many times better than classic molecules in antioxidant activity tests — up to 172 times more effectively than vitamin C and up to 240 times more effectively than vitamin E.
From the laboratory to the formulation
The greatest challenge for years was stability — pure fullerene is hydrophobic and hard to incorporate into a cosmetic. The breakthrough came with the biological form of fullerenes and a proprietary encapsulation technology developed in the Polish IMU Medical laboratory, thanks to which the molecule remains stable in the formulation for over 24 months.
Microparticles smaller than 1 nanometre penetrate the stratum corneum within a few dozen seconds — without disrupting the hydrolipid barrier.
What this means for your skin
Oxidative stress is one of the main mechanisms of skin ageing: it damages collagen, cell membrane lipids and cellular DNA. By neutralising free radicals at the source, biological fullerenes create the conditions for the skin's natural regeneration — in line with the longevity philosophy, in which we do not fight time but teach the skin to age more slowly.