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Meitnerium

Meitnerium (pronounced /maɪtˈnɪəriəm/ myet-NEER-ee-əm or /maɪtˈnɜriəm/ myet-NER-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 Mt-278, with a half-life of ~8 s.

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.[1] The team bombarded a target of bismuth-209 with accelerated nuclei of iron-58 and detected a single atom of the isotope meitnerium-266:

20983Bi + 5826Fe → 266109Mt + n


Naming

Element 109 was formerly known as Unnilennium, bearing the symbol Une.

Historically, element 109 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.

Future experiments

The team at RIKEN, Japan, have indicated that as part of their ongoing studies using 248Cm targets, they may study the new reaction 248Cm(27Al,xn) in the future.

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.

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.[1] 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. [2] [3]

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.[4]

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. [5]

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.[6]

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)[1]
267Mt unknown
268Mt 1994 209Bi(64Ni,n)[7]
269Mt unknown
270Mt 2004 209Bi(70Zn,n)[8]
271Mt unknown
272Mt unknown
273Mt unknown
274Mt 2006 237Np(48Ca,3n)
275Mt 2003 243Am(48Ca,4n)[9]
276Mt 2003 243Am(48Ca,3n)
277Mt unknown
278Mt 2009 249Bk(48Ca,3n)[10]

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 [11]
243Am 28Si 271Mt 4n (267Mt) 3 pb HIVAP [11]
249Bk 26Mg 275Mt 4n (271Mt) 9.5 pb HIVAP [11]
254Es 22Ne 276Mt 4n (272Mt) 8 pb HIVAP [11]
254Es 20Ne 274Mt 4-5n (270,269Mt) 3 pb HIVAP [11]

Chemical properties

Electronic structure

Bohr model 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 15, 2
Quantum mechanical model[12] 1s22s22p63s23p64s23d104p65s24d105p66s24f145d106p67s25f146d7

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. ^ a b c Münzenberg, G. (1982). "Observation of one correlated α-decay in the reaction 58Fe on 209Bi→267109". Zeitschrift für Physik a Atoms and Nuclei 309: 89. doi:10.1007/BF01420157.
2. ^ Münzenberg, G. (1988). "New results on element 109". Zeitschrift für Physik a Atomic Nuclei 330: 435. doi:10.1007/BF01290131.
3. ^ Hofmann, S. (1997). "Excitation function for the production of 265 108 and 266 109". Zeitschrift für Physik a Hadrons and Nuclei 358: 377. doi:10.1007/s002180050343.
4. ^ Nelson et al. (2009). "Comparison of complementary reactions in the production of Mt". Physical Rev. C 79: 027605.
5. ^ "The search for 271Mt via the reaction 238U + 37Cl", Zielinski et al.., GSI Annual report, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-03-01
6. ^ see reference 4 for reference to an internal report from LLNL
7. ^ see roentgenium for details
8. ^ see ununtrium for details
9. ^ see ununpentium for details
10. ^ see ununseptium
11. ^ a b c d e http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/nucl-th/pdf/0402/0402065v2.pdf
12. ^ Thierfelder, C. (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.


External links

* WebElements.com: Meitnerium


Periodic table
H   He
Li Be   B C N O F Ne
Na Mg   Al Si P S Cl Ar
K Ca Sc   Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr
Rb Sr Y   Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe
Cs Ba La Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn
Fr Ra Ac Th Pa U Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt Ds Rg Cn Uut Uuq Uup Uuh Uus Uuo
Alkali metals Alkaline earth metals Lanthanoids Actinoids Transition metals Other metals Metalloids Other nonmetals Halogens Noble gases

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