Element 120 Discovery Possible after Titanium Beam Breakthrough

Scientists at Berkeley Lab have successfully used a titanium beam to create atoms of element 116. This not only introduces a new method for producing this extremely rare element but also serves as a proof-of-concept for potentially creating the yet-to-be-discovered element 120, which may exhibit stability.

The periodic table organizes elements by their atomic number, or the number of protons in their nucleus. While the first 94 elements occur naturally, elements heavier than that have only been synthesized in laboratories by fusing existing elements together.

On paper, it seems simple: combine two elements whose protons add up to the desired atomic number. For example, to produce oganesson (118 protons), scientists fire a calcium beam (20 protons) at a californium target (98 protons).

Changing the Projectile

This method of firing a calcium beam at various targets led to the synthesis of superheavy elements 112 to 118. While it’s believed that more elements exist beyond the current periodic table, californium is the heaviest viable target; heavier elements are too unstable.

If the target can’t be changed, then the projectile must be. The Berkeley Lab team adopted this approach by switching the beam from calcium to titanium, which has 22 protons, to gain the extra protons needed. However, this process is far from simple.

Firstly, it requires titanium-50, a rare isotope constituting only about 5% of natural titanium on Earth. This isotope is then heated in a specialized oven to nearly 3,000 °F (1,649 °C), vaporizing the titanium. An ion source produces a plasma of charged titanium, which is then manipulated into a beam and directed at the target.

First Use of a Titanium Beam

This is the first time a titanium beam has been used in such experiments. To verify its effectiveness, the team fired it at a plutonium target, which has 94 protons. This should produce element 116, livermorium. Indeed, the team detected livermorium, though it was exceedingly rare, with only two atoms produced over a 22-day experiment.

Plans to Search for Element 120

With this proof-of-concept established, the team now plans to use the titanium beam to search for the hypothesized element 120. This involves firing titanium at a californium target, although this is expected to be an even rarer occurrence.

“We anticipate it will take about 10 times longer to produce element 120 compared to element 116,” said Reiner Kruecken, director of Berkeley Lab’s Nuclear Science Division. “It’s challenging, but now it seems feasible.”

If discovered, element 120, also known as Unbinilium, is predicted to be an alkaline earth metal. It would occupy the currently empty eighth row of the periodic table, alongside the also-undiscovered element 119.

Most excitingly, element 120 might fall within the “island of stability.” Superheavy elements typically have very short half-lives, decaying within milliseconds, making them difficult to study and impractical for real-world applications.

However, it’s predicted that certain isotopes of these elements might have the right number of neutrons to achieve stability, potentially lasting minutes or even days. If so, element 120 could be the most useful new element created in quite some time.

The researchers could begin experiments as early as 2025, but it might still take a few years to produce any atoms of element 120.

Read the original article on: New Atlas

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