Darmstadtium is an artificial element that was synthesized in 1994. It is highly radioactive and a very dense metal.
History and Discovery
Darmstadtium is a synthetic element. It was predicted by Mendeleev and was named eka-platinum and later was named as the element 110. It was created by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Munzenberg in 1994 in GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, Germany. The lead-208 was bombarded by nickel-62 which produced a single atom of isotope darmstadtium-269 [1]. Using the same approach, nickel-64 ions were bombarded and nine atoms of darmstadtium-271 were produced. The name darmstadtium has been given in honor of the city where it was discovered, Darmstadt, Germany [2]. Its symbol is Ds.
Darmstadtium
| Periodic Table Classification | Group 10 Period 7 |
|---|---|
| State at 20C | Solid (predicted) |
| Color | Unknown |
| Electron Configuration | [Rn] 5f14 6d8 7s2 (predicted) |
| Electron Number | 110 |
| Proton Number | 110 |
| Electron Shell | 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 16, 2 (predicted) |
| Density | 34.80 g.cm-3 at 20°C (predicted) |
| Atomic number | 110 |
| Atomic Mass | 281.00 g.mol -1 (most stable isotope) |
| Electronegativity according to Pauling | n/a |
Occurrence
Darmstadtium do not occur in nature as it is highly unstable and have a half-life of few seconds.
Physical Characteristics
Darmstadtium exists in solid form under normal conditions. It crystallizes in a cubic structure that has a body-centered symmetry. Darmstadtium is a very dense metal and would have a density of round 34.8 g/cm3. But due to its unstable nature, the physical properties can only be predicted or theoretically calculated. Further, creating that much sample of darmstadtium to study its physical and chemical properties is difficult as it would undergo spontaneous decay with in minutes.
Chemical Characteristics
Darmstadtium is extremely radioactive element. The chemical characteristics of darmstadtium have not been studied in detail yet [3]. The extremely short half-lives of isotopes and highly volatile nature of its compounds make the statistically significant chemical analysis a challenge. Further, the rate of production of darmstadtium isotopes need to be at least one per week in order to obtain considerable amount of the element. However, it reacts with fluorine to form a relatively less volatile compound, darmstadtium hexafluoride
Significance and Uses
- Darmstadtium and its various isotopes are used for research and laboratory purposes.
Health Hazards
Darmstadtium is highly radioactive and require special handling precautions.
Isotopes of Darmstadtium
There are nine isotopes of darmstadtium. There are no stable isotopes of darmstadtium. As it is a synthetic element, none of its isotopes are stable. The isotopes are produced by decay of heavier element or by the fusion of two light nuclei. The isotopes have atomic masses: 267, 296,270,271, 279,280 and 281 [4]. The heavier isotopes are more stable as compared to lighter ones. And the heaviest isotope, darmstadtium-281 has a half-life of 11 seconds, while darmstadtium-279 has a half life of 0.18 seconds. All the isotopes undergo decay through alpha decay or spontaneous fission, and none of the isotopes undergoes beta decay.
REFERENCES
[1]. Hofmann, S.; Ninov, V.; Heßberger, F. P.; Armbruster, P.; Folger, H.; Münzenberg, G.; Schött, H. J.; Popeko, A. G.; Yeremin, A. V.; Andreyev, A. N.; Saro, S.; Janik, R.; Leino, M. (1995). “Production and decay of 269110″. Zeitschrift für Physik A. 350 (4): 277. Bibcode:1995ZPhyA.350..277H. doi:10.1007/BF01291181
[2]. Griffith, W. P. (2008). “The Periodic Table and the Platinum Group Metals”. Platinum Metals Review. 52 (2): 114–119. doi:10.1595/147106708X297486.
[3]. Düllmann, Christoph E. (2012). “Superheavy elements at GSI: a broad research program with element 114 in the focus of physics and chemistry”. Radiochimica Acta. 100 (2): 67–74. doi:10.1524/ract.2011.1842.
[4]. Sonzogni, Alejandro. “Interactive Chart of Nuclides”. National Nuclear Data Center: Brookhaven National Laboratory. Retrieved 2008-06-06.