Flerovium

114

289

The chemical element flerovium is classed as an other metal. It was discovered in 1998 by science teams led by Yuri Oganessian and Ken Moody.

Data Zone

Classification:	Flerovium is an ‘other metal’ (presumed)
Atomic weight:	(289)
State:	solid (presumed)
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Density @ 20 ^oC:
Electrons:	114
Protons:	114
Neutrons in most abundant isotope:	175
Electron shells:	2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 18, 4
Electron configuration:	[Rn] 5f¹⁴ 6d¹⁰ 7s² 7p²

Show more, including: Heats, Energies, Oxidation,
Reactions, Compounds, Radii, Conductivities

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Part of the heavy ion cyclotron U400 in Dubna, where flerovium was synthesized. Image by Jim Roberto, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Discovery of Flerovium

Dr. Doug Stewart

Element 114, flerovium, was first made in Dubna, Russia in 1998.

The work was a collaboration between science teams at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California led by Yuri Oganessian and Ken Moody.

Subsequently the team made element 114 on a number of occasions; cumulatively this provided enough evidence for The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) to announce in June 2011 its acceptance of element 114’s discovery. ⁽¹⁾

Flerovium was made by a fusion reaction of element 20 with element 94: calcium-48 with plutonium-244. ⁽²⁾

Calcium ions were formed into a beam in the U400 cyclotron (a particle accelerator) at Dubna, accelerating to reach 10% of the speed of light before hitting the plutonium target.

The experiment was run for 6 months. In the first 40 days, 5 x 10¹⁸ calcium ions were fired at the plutonium, resulting in the formation of a single atom of flerovium-289, which existed for 30.4 seconds before decaying. ⁽²⁾

Later, two atoms of flerovium-288 were made, allowing an approximate half-life of 2 seconds to be estimated for this isotope. ⁽³⁾

As a result of its position in Group 14 of the periodic table we might expect flerovium to be one of the ‘other metals’ with properties similar to lead with possible oxidation states of +2 and +4. Too little flerovium has been synthesized for its properties to be assessed with certainty.

Element 114’s electron configuration is [Rn] 5f¹⁴ 6d¹⁰ 7s² 7p². As a result of relativistic effects, element 114 has three outer p orbitals with different symmetries: p_{1/2 (m=1/2)}, p_{3/2 (m=1/2)}, p_{3/2 (m=3/2)}. (In lighter elements the three p orbitals p_x, p_y, p_z are symmetrical.)

So, how does the filled 7p_1/2 subshell influence the chemical properties of flerovium? Significant spin-orbit splitting between the spherical 7p_1/2 and distorted 7p_3/2 orbitals meant estimates ranged from chemical inertness (a solid version of noble gas behavior) to lead-like behavior. Initial results indicate ununquadium may exhibit noble gas-like behavior. ⁽⁴⁾

Ununquadium (Uuq) was element 114’s temporary name until an official name was chosen by IUPAC. In May 2012, IUPAC approved that element 114 should be named flerovium.

The name flerovium is in accordance with the wishes of the deputy director of Russia’s Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) who wanted element 114’s name to be derived from Flerov, in honor of George Flerov, the Russian nuclear physicist. ⁽⁵⁾

IUPAC has accepted the discoveries of element 113 (nihonium/ununtrium), element 114 (flerovium/ununquadium), element 115 (moscovium/ununpentium), element 116 (livermorium/ununhexium), element 117 (tennessine/ununseptium) and element 118 (oganesson/ununoctium), thus completing the seventh row of the periodic table.

Appearance and Characteristics

Harmful effects:

Flerovium is harmful due to its radioactivity.

Characteristics:

Flerovium is a synthetic radioactive metal and has only been produced in minute amounts.

Uses of Flerovium

Flerovium is of research interest only.

Abundance and Isotopes

Abundance earth’s crust: nil

Abundance solar system: parts per trillion by weight, parts per trillion by moles

Cost, pure: $ per 100g

Cost, bulk: $ per 100g

Source: Flerovium / Ununquadium is a synthetic radioactive metal, created via nuclear bombardment, and has only been produced in minute amounts. Flerovium is produced by bombarding ²⁴⁴Pu with ⁴⁸Ca in a heavy ion accelerator.

Isotopes: Flerovium has 5 isotopes whose half-lives are known, with mass numbers from 285 to 289. None are stable. The most stable isotope is ²⁸⁹Fl, with a half-life of 2.6 seconds.

References

Robert Barber, Paul Karol, Hiromichi Nakahara, Emanuele Vardaci, and Erich Vogt, Discovery of the elements with atomic numbers greater than or equal to 113,. 2011, IUPAC. (pdf download)
John Emsley, Nature’s building blocks: an A-Z guide to the elements., Oxford University Press, 2003, p467.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Element 114 – Superheavy Element Puts LLNL on the Periodic Table, January 24, 2007.
H.W. Gäggeler and A. Türler, Gas Phase Chemistry of Superheavy elements (pdf document)., (2007).
New chemical elements synthesized by Russian team recognized., June 3, 2011, RIA Novosti.

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