Meitnerium

Meitnerium
hassiummeitneriumdarmstadtium
Ir

Mt

(Upe)
Appearance
unknown
General properties
Name, symbol, number meitnerium, Mt, 109
Pronunciation /mtˈnɪəriəm/
myet-neer-ee-əm
or /mtˈnɜriəm/
myet-nur-ee-əm
Element category unknown
Group, period, block 97, d
Standard atomic weight [278]
Electron configuration [Rn] 7s2 5f14 6d7[1]
Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 15, 2 (Image)
Physical properties
Phase solid ([citation needed]presumably)
Atomic properties
Oxidation states 3, 4
(a guess based on that of iridium)
Miscellanea
CAS registry number 54038-01-6
Most stable isotopes
Main article: Isotopes of meitnerium
iso NA half-life DM DE (MeV) DP
278Mt syn 7.6 s α 9.6 274Bh
276Mt syn 0.72 s α 9.71 272Bh
275Mt syn 9.7 ms α 10.33 271Bh
274Mt syn 0.44 s α 9.76 270Bh
270mMt ? syn 1.1 s α 266Bh
270gMt syn 5 ms α 10.03 266Bh
268Mt syn 42 ms α 10.26,10.10 264Bh
266Mt syn 1.7 ms α 11.00 262Bh
v ·  /mtˈnɪəriəm/ myt-neer-ee-əm or /mtˈnɜriəm/ myt-nur-ee-əm) is a chemical element with the symbol Mt and atomic number 109. It is placed as the heaviest member of group 9 (or VIII) in the periodic table but a sufficiently stable isotope is not known at this time which would allow chemical experiments to confirm its position, unlike its lighter neighbours.

It was first synthesized in 1982 and several isotopes are currently known. The heaviest and the most stable isotope known is 278Mt, with a half-life of ~8 s.[2]

Contents

History

Official discovery

Meitnerium was first synthesized on August 29, 1982 by a German research team led by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg at the Institute for Heavy Ion Research (Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung) in Darmstadt.[3] The team bombarded a target of bismuth-209 with accelerated nuclei of iron-58 and detected a single atom of the isotope meitnerium-266:

209
83
Bi
+ 58
26
Fe
266
109
Mt
+ n

Naming

Meitnerium was formerly known as Unnilennium, bearing the symbol Une.

Historically, meitnerium has been referred to as eka-iridium.

The name meitnerium (Mt) was suggested in honor of the Austrian physicist Lise Meitner. In 1997, the name was officially adopted by the IUPAC.

Isotopes and nuclear properties

Nucleosynthesis

Target-projectile combinations leading to Z=109 compound nuclei

The below table contains various combinations of targets and projectiles which could be used to form compound nuclei with Z=109.

Target Projectile CN Attempt result
208Pb 59Co 267Mt Successful reaction
209Bi 58Fe 267Mt Successful reaction
232Th 41K 273Mt Reaction yet to be attempted
231Pa 40Ar 271Mt Reaction yet to be attempted
238U 37Cl 275Mt Failure to date
237Np 36S 275Mt Reaction yet to be attempted
244Pu 31P 275Mt Reaction yet to be attempted
242Pu 31P 273Mt Reaction yet to be attempted
243Am 30Si 273Mt Reaction yet to be attempted
248Cm 27Al 275Mt Reaction yet to be attempted
249Bk 26Mg 275Mt Reaction yet to be attempted
249Cf 23Na 272Mt Reaction yet to be attempted
254Es 22Ne 276Mt Failure to date

Cold fusion

This section deals with the synthesis of nuclei of meitnerium by so-called "cold" fusion reactions. These are processes which create compound nuclei at low excitation energy (~10–20 MeV, hence "cold"), leading to a higher probability of survival from fission. The excited nucleus then decays to the ground state via the emission of one or two neutrons only. See more on Cold Fusion

209Bi(58Fe,xn)267-xMt (x=1)

The first success in this reaction was in 1982 by the GSI team in their discovery experiment with the identification of a single atom of 266Mt in the 1n neutron evaporation channel.[3] The GSI team used the parent-daughter correlation technique. After an initial failure in 1983, in 1985 the team at the FLNR, Dubna, observed alpha decays from the descendant 246Cf indicating the formation of meitnerium. The GSI synthesised a further 2 atoms of 266Mt in 1988 and continued in 1997 with the detection of 12 atoms during the measurement of the 1n excitation function. [4] [5]

208Pb(59Co,xn)267-xMt (x=1)

This reaction was first studied in 1985 by the team in Dubna. They were able to detect the alpha decay of the descendant 246Cf nuclei indicating the formation of meitnerium atoms. In 2007, in a continuation of their study of the effect of odd-Z projectiles on yields of evaporation residues in cold fusion reactions, the team at LBNL synthesised 266Mt and were able to correlate the decay with known daughters.[6]

181Ta(86Kr,xn)267-xMt

There are indications that this cold fusion reaction using a tantalum target was attempted in August 2001 at the GSI. No details can be found suggesting that no atoms of meitnerium were detected.

Hot fusion

238U(37Cl,xn)275-xMt

In 2002–2003, the team at LBNL attempted the above reaction in order to search for the isotope 271Mt with hope that it may be sufficiently stable to allow a first study of the chemical properties of meitnerium. Unfortunately, no atoms were detected and a cross section limit of 1.5 pb was measured for the 4n channel at the projectile energy used. [7]

254Es(22Ne,xn)276-xMt

Attempts to produce long-living isotopes of meitnerium were first performed by Ken Hulet at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in 1988 using the asymmetric hot fusion reaction above. They were unable to detect any product atoms and established a cross section limit of 1 nb.[8]

As a decay product

Isotopes of meitnerium have also been detected in the decay of heavier elements. Observations to date are shown in the table below:

Evaporation residue Observed Mt isotope
294Uus 278Mt
288Uup 276Mt
287Uup 275Mt
282Uut 274Mt
278Uut 270Mt
272Rg 268Mt

Chronology of isotope discovery

Isotope Year discovered Discovery reaction
266Mt 1982 209Bi(58Fe,n)[3]
267Mt unknown
268Mt 1994 209Bi(64Ni,n)[9]
269Mt unknown
270Mt 2004 209Bi(70Zn,n)[10]
271Mt unknown
272Mt unknown
273Mt unknown
274Mt 2006 237Np(48Ca,3n)
275Mt 2003 243Am(48Ca,4n)[11]
276Mt 2003 243Am(48Ca,3n)
277Mt unknown
278Mt 2009 249Bk(48Ca,3n)[2]

Nuclear isomerism

270Mt

Two atoms of 270Mt have been identified in the decay chains of 278113. The two decays have very different lifetimes and decay energies and are also produced from two apparently different isomers in 274Rg. The first isomer decays by emission of an 10.03 MeV alpha particle with a lifetime 7.2 ms. The other decays by emitting an alpha particle with a lifetime of 1.63 s. An assignment to specific levels is not possible with the limited data available. Further research is required.

268Mt

The alpha decay spectrum for 268Mt appears to be complicated from the results of several experiments. Alpha lines of 10.28,10.22 and 10.10 MeV have been observed. Half-lives of 42 ms, 21 ms and 102 ms have been determined. The long-lived decay is associated with alpha particles of energy 10.10 MeV and must be assigned to an isomeric level. The discrepancy between the other two half-lives has yet to be resolved. An assignment to specific levels is not possible with the data available and further research is required.

Chemical yields of isotopes

Cold fusion

The table below provides cross-sections and excitation energies for cold fusion reactions producing meitnerium isotopes directly. Data in bold represent maxima derived from excitation function measurements. + represents an observed exit channel.

Projectile Target CN 1n 2n 3n
58Fe 209Bi 267Mt 7.5 pb
59Co 208Pb 267Mt 2.6 pb, 14.9 MeV

Theoretical calculations

Evaporation residue cross sections

The below table contains various targets-projectile combinations for which calculations have provided estimates for cross section yields from various neutron evaporation channels. The channel with the highest expected yield is given.

HIVAP = heavy-ion vaporisation statistical-evaporation model; σ = cross section

Target Projectile CN Channel (product) σmax Model Ref
243Am 30Si 273Mt 3n (270Mt) 22 pb HIVAP [12]
243Am 28Si 271Mt 4n (267Mt) 3 pb HIVAP [12]
249Bk 26Mg 275Mt 4n (271Mt) 9.5 pb HIVAP [12]
254Es 22Ne 276Mt 4n (272Mt) 8 pb HIVAP [12]
254Es 20Ne 274Mt 4-5n (270,269Mt) 3 pb HIVAP [12]

Chemical properties

Extrapolated chemical properties

Physical properties

Mt should be a very heavy metal with a density around 30 g/cm3 (Co: 8.9, Rh: 12.5, Ir: 22.5) and a high melting point around 2600–2900°C (Co: 1480, Rh: 1966, Ir: 2454). It should be very corrosion-resistant; even more so than Ir which is currently the most corrosion-resistant metal known.

Oxidation states

Meitnerium is projected to be the sixth member of the 6d series of transition metals and the heaviest member of group 9 in the Periodic Table, below cobalt, rhodium and iridium. This group of transition metals is the first to show lower oxidation states and the +9 state is not known. The latter two members of the group show a maximum oxidation state of +6, whilst the most stable states are +4 and +3 for iridium and +3 for rhodium. Meitnerium is therefore expected to form a stable +3 state but may also portray stable +4 and +6 states.

Chemistry

The +VI state in group 9 is known only for the fluorides which are formed by direct reaction. Therefore, meitnerium should form a hexafluoride, MtF6. This fluoride is expected to be more stable than iridium(VI) fluoride, as the +6 state becomes more stable as the group is descended.

In combination with oxygen, rhodium forms Rh2O3 whilst iridium is oxidised to the +4 state in IrO2. Meitnerium may therefore show a dioxide, MtO2, if eka-iridium reactivity is shown.

The +3 state in group 9 is common in the trihalides (except fluorides) formed by direct reaction with halogens. Meitnerium should therefore form MtCl3, MtBr3 and MtI3 in an analogous manner to iridium.

References

  1. ^ Thierfelder, C.; Schwerdtfeger, P.; Heßberger, F. P.; Hofmann, S. (2008). "Dirac-Hartree-Fock studies of X-ray transitions in meitnerium". The European Physical Journal A 36: 227. doi:10.1140/epja/i2008-10584-7. 
  2. ^ a b Oganessian, Yu. Ts.; Abdullin, F. Sh.; Bailey, P. D.; Benker, D. E.; Bennett, M. E.; Dmitriev, S. N.; Ezold, J. G.; Hamilton, J. H. et al. (2010). "Synthesis of a New Element with Atomic Number Z=117". Physical Review Letters 104. Bibcode 2010PhRvL.104n2502O. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.142502. PMID 20481935. 
  3. ^ a b c Münzenberg, G.; Armbruster, P.; Heßberger, F. P.; Hofmann, S.; Poppensieker, K.; Reisdorf, W.; Schneider, J. H. R.; Schneider, W. F. W. et al. (1982). "Observation of one correlated α-decay in the reaction 58Fe on 209Bi→267109". Zeitschrift für Physik A 309 (1): 89. Bibcode 1982ZPhyA.309...89M. doi:10.1007/BF01420157. 
  4. ^ Münzenberg, G.; Hofmann, S.; Heßberger, F. P.; Folger, H.; Ninov, V.; Poppensieker, K.; Quint, A. B.; Reisdorf, W. et al. (1988). "New results on element 109". Zeitschrift für Physik A 330 (4): 435. Bibcode 1988ZPhyA.330..435M. doi:10.1007/BF01290131. 
  5. ^ Hofmann, S.; Heßberger, F.P.; Ninov, V.; Armbruster, P.; Münzenberg, G.; Stodel, C.; Popeko, A.G.; Yeremin, A.V. et al. (1997). "Excitation function for the production of 265 108 and 266 109". Zeitschrift für Physik A 358 (4): 377. Bibcode 1997ZPhyA.358..377H. doi:10.1007/s002180050343. 
  6. ^ Nelson et al. (2009). "Comparison of complementary reactions in the production of Mt". Physical Rev. C 79: 027605. 
  7. ^ "The search for 271Mt via the reaction 238U + 37Cl", Zielinski et al.., GSI Annual report, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-03-01
  8. ^ see reference 4 for reference to an internal report from LLNL
  9. ^ see roentgenium for details
  10. ^ see ununtrium for details
  11. ^ see ununpentium for details
  12. ^ a b c d e Wang Kun; et al. (2004). "A Proposed Reaction Channel for the Synthesis of the Superheavy Nucleus Z = 109". Chinese Physics Letters 21 (3): 464. arXiv:nucl-th/0402065. Bibcode 2004ChPhL..21..464W. doi:10.1088/0256-307X/21/3/013. 

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Meitnerium — Meitnérium Pour les articles homonymes, voir Mt. Meitnérium …   Wikipédia en Français

  • meitnerium — [mīt nir′ē əm] n. 〚ModL, after MEITNER Lise + IUM〛 a radioactive chemical element with a very short half life: a transactinide produced by bombarding bismuth with high energy nuclear particles: symbol, Mt; at. no., 109: see the periodic table of… …   Universalium

  • meitnerium — ● meitnerium nom masculin (de L. Meitner, nom propre) Élément chimique artificiel (Mt), de numéro atomique 109 et de masse atomique voisine de 268 …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • meitnerium — Symbol: Mt Atomic number: 109 Atomic weight: (266) Half life of approximately 5ms. The creation of this element demonstrated that fusion techniques could indeed be used to make new, heavy nuclei. Made and identified by physicists of the Heavy Ion …   Elements of periodic system

  • meitnerium — [mīt nir′ē əm] n. [ModL, after MEITNER Lise + IUM] a radioactive chemical element with a very short half life: a transactinide produced by bombarding bismuth with high energy nuclear particles: symbol, Mt; at. no., 109: see the periodic table of… …   English World dictionary

  • Meitnérium — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Mt. Meitnérium Hassium ← Meitnérium → …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Meitnerium — Eigenschaften …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Meitnerium — meitneris statusas T sritis fizika atitikmenys: angl. meitnerium vok. Meitnerium, n rus. мейтнерий, m pranc. meitnerium, m …   Fizikos terminų žodynas

  • meitnerium — meitneris statusas T sritis fizika atitikmenys: angl. meitnerium vok. Meitnerium, n rus. мейтнерий, m pranc. meitnerium, m …   Fizikos terminų žodynas

  • Meitnerium — Meit|ne|ri|um [nach der österr. Physikerin L. Meitner (1878–1968); ↑ ium (1)], das; s; Symbol: Mt; früherer systematischer Name: Unnilennium (Une): nur künstlich herstellbares, radioaktives chem. Element (Transactinid) aus Gruppe 9 des… …   Universal-Lexikon

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”