A team of scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has created the element liver using a titanium beam. The study could be the first step toward discovering element 120.
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, which operates under the US Department of Energy, has been credited with discovering 16 of the 118 currently known elements, and that number may soon rise.
An international team of scientists, led by Berkeley Lab’s Heavy Elements Group, has announced the successful synthesis of superheavy element 116 using a titanium beam. The advance was presented at the Nuclear Structure 2024 conference, and details are described in a paper available on the arXiv database.
Revolutionary study
Creating superheavy elements involves combining two lighter elements, a process that is extremely difficult and often requires billions of attempts. The heaviest and most practical target for these experiments is californium-249, which has 98 protons. To make element 120, scientists use a bunch of titanium-50 atoms instead of the more common bunch of calcium-48.
On this occasion, the team was able to produce two livermorium atoms using a beam of titanium particles. For this purpose, the scientists used a 2.24-metre (88-inch) diameter heavy ion accelerator, known as a cyclotron.
«This was an important first step in trying to create something a little easier than a new element, in order to see how changing from a calcium beam to a titanium beam would affect the production rate of these elements.“It’s a very good idea,” said Jennifer Poore, a scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Heavy Elements Group.The creation of element 116 using titanium confirms the success of this production method, and we can now plan our search for element 120.«.
Scientists aim to discover element 120
Preparations are already underway to try to create element 120, with experiments scheduled to begin next year. The process will not be easy and could take several years. Only a few atoms of element 120 will likely be produced.
«We want to discover the boundaries of the atom and the boundaries of the periodic table.“It’s a very good idea,” said Jacqueline Gates, a nuclear scientist at Berkeley Lab.The superheavy elements we know of so far don’t live long enough to be useful in practical applications, but we don’t know what the future holds. Maybe we’ll get a better understanding of how the nucleus works, or maybe it’s something else.«.
If element 120 is discovered, it would be the heaviest atom ever created, located in the eighth row of the periodic table. It would be located in a theoretical region of superheavy elements known as the “island of stability.” Atoms on this island have unique properties. Unlike superheavy elements discovered so far, which decay almost instantly, a stable combination of protons and neutrons could create a longer-lived nucleus, allowing for more detailed studies.
Relevance to Sustainability and Materials Science
The discovery of new elements not only expands our knowledge of chemistry and nuclear physics, but may also have implications for areas such as the environment, sustainability, and materials science. Superheavy elements could have unprecedented properties that could be applied in the future to create more resilient and sustainable materials. Furthermore, understanding how these elements work could lead to the development of more efficient energy technologies, contributing to greater environmental sustainability. The “island of stability” in particular represents a scientific frontier that could change the way we understand and use materials in our everyday lives.
via lbl.gov
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