A novel water soluble fullerene vinyl pyrrolidone copolymer was synthesized. TEM analyses show that it presents an ideal spherical shape in water with an average diameter of about 43nm. Four ball test shows that the addition of a certain concentration of the fullerene copolymer to base stock can effectively raise the load carrying capacity (PB value) and antiwear ability, and reduce the coefficient of friction. The optimum concentration of the additive was 0.3?%. Electron probe microanalysis indicated t...