Abstract
Element 117 (tennessine) joined the periodic table in November 2016. Two tennessine isotopes were synthesized by bombarding 249Bk from Oak Ridge National Laboratory with 48Ca ions at the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research, Russia, and 11 new heaviest isotopes of odd-Z elements were observed in subsequent decay chains. These isotopes exhibit increasing lifetimes as the closed nuclear shell at neutron number N = 184 is approached, providing evidence for the “island of stability” for super-heavy elements. This paper summarizes recent super-heavy element research with a focus on element 117, the role of actinide targets, and opportunities to synthesize elements 119 and 120.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1813-1819 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Separation Science and Technology (Philadelphia) |
Volume | 53 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 13 2018 |
Funding
The authors acknowledge support from the U.S. DOE Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics, Isotope Development and Production for Research and Applications Program, and Low Energy Nuclear Physics Program. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract number DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan.
Keywords
- Actinide
- berkelium
- separations chemistry
- super-heavy element
- tennessine