From the “Brazuca” ball to octahedral fullerenes: their construction and classification

A simple cut-and-patch method is presented for the construction and classification for fullerenes belonging to the octahedral point groups, O or \(O_h\). In order to satisfy the symmetry requirement of the octahedral group, suitable numbers of four- and eight-member rings, in addition to the hexagons and pentagons, have to be introduced. An index consisting of four integers is introduced to specify an octahedral fullerenes. However, to specify an octahedral fullerene uniquely, we also found certain symmetry rules for these indices. Based on the transformation properties under the symmetry operations that an octahedral fullerene belongs to, we can identify four structural types of octahedral fullerenes.