By forging a new method of creating superheavy elements, chemists may be on track to create element 120 starting in late 2025.
On July 23 at the Nuclear Structure 2024 meeting, researchers presented the results of their experiment that employed a new way of making superheavy elements. Superheavy elements—those with greater than 103 protons—are created by shooting beams of highly energized isotopes into target atoms. As neutrons are shed from the isotope’s nucleus, the nuclei of both the target and isotope fuse together to momentarily form a superheavy element. Typically, Calcium-48 was used as the isotope because of its stability and wealth of extra neutrons. Now, chemists postulate that an isotope of titanium can be used, one with six extra neutrons. Known as Titanium-50, this atom, while less stable, maybe the key to using the newest superheavy elements.
This development came along due to the scientists’ need to make a heavier element with a lighter target atom. As the target atoms become heavier, they become less abundant and harder and less practical to work with. For example, Berkelium (element 97), the element combined with the calcium isotope to make Tennessine (element 117), is difficult to produce. The process of making increasingly heavy elements would be much harder when it is also difficult to make the required target atom. An isotope beam like Titanium-50 that has more protons will open doors to the synthesis of other, heavier elements, such as the ultimate goal of these studies, element 120.
Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory proved the Titanium-50 can be used to synthesize Livermorium (element 116), an element that had previously been made just using Calcium-48. In their 88-inch Cyclotron, the isotope was heated to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit and condensed into a highly energized beam aimed at a plutonium target. After searching for the superheavy element for 22 days, two atoms of livermorium were found. This proof-of-concept will be paramount in creating more superheavy elements like element 120, especially using lighter, more stable target atoms. Element 120 would be created by aiming the beam at a californium target. The breakthrough could be an important part of finding the “island of stability,” a section of the periodic table where superheavy elements may exist for more than just a fleeting moment. Although this new addition may only exist for a millisecond longer than other man-made elements, some models say that element 120 could exist for a relatively long time.
Despite this revolutionary new process, synthesizing element 120 will still be a challenge. Jacklyn Gates, the lead author of the experiment, states that it will be “about 10 to 20 times harder to make element 120 than it was element 116”. This could be due to many factors, including the fact that superheavy elements decay almost instantaneously because of their instability, and therefore it will be hard to locate the atoms in the Cyclotron. If the scientists are able to detect these atoms, though, they will be well on their way to coining the latest element and the first in the eighth row of the periodic table. The discovery would be a feat of chemistry and nuclear physics, paving the way for applications in many other disciplines of science.
