Scientists Possibly Found A Way To Create New Superheavy Elements To Add To The Periodic Table
Currently, there are 118 known elements on the periodic table, from hydrogen all the way to oganesson, which was officially named in 2016. It’s pretty hefty, with at least 294 subatomic particles packed into the centers of its atoms.
Theoretically, there should be even heftier elements somewhere out in the cosmos. To find them, researchers must look for them in the solar system or discover new ways to synthesize them on Earth.
Scientists have now possibly found a way to create new superheavy elements known as “element 119” and “element 120.”
They would be so hefty that they would need to be put in a new eighth row on the periodic table of elements.
Element 119 was dubbed ununennium, and element 120 was named unbinilium. So far, neither of them has been synthesized, although several attempts to do so have already taken place.
In a new study, researchers experimented with a technique for creating the superheavy element livermorium (element 116). They bombarded the isotope plutonium-244 with additional neutrons and vaporized ions of titanium.
They think the same strategy could be used to create unbinilium. It would entail shooting titanium ions at isotopes of californium, which is heavier than plutonium.
“This reaction had never been demonstrated before, and it was essential to prove it was possible before embarking on our attempt to make element 120,” said Jacklyn Gates, the lead author of the study and a nuclear scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.
“Creation of a new element is an extremely rare feat. It’s exciting to be a part of the process and to have a promising path forward.”
wittayayut – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
It might be a while before the researchers can create unbinilium, though. In the study, it took more than 22 days to create just two atoms of livermorium in the Berkeley Lab’s 88-inch Cyclotron machine, even though it was constantly shooting titanium ions at the plutonium isotope.
The research team thinks it will take 10 times longer for unbinilium to form than livermorium.
Superheavy elements tend to break down quickly once they are formed due to their high instability. But scientists predict that elements will remain intact and stable for longer than current known superheavy isotopes after they reach a certain size.
Unbinilium is expected to reach this level of stability, which would expand opportunities for scientists to search for superheavy elements. Still, there is a chance that unbinilium may not behave as anticipated.
“When we’re trying to make these incredibly rare elements, we are standing at the absolute edge of human knowledge and understanding, and there is no guarantee that physics will work the way we expect,” said Jennifer Pore, a co-author of the study and a nuclear scientist at Berkeley Lab.
The study was published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
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