First Study on Nihonium (Nh, Element 113) Chemistry at TASCA

A Yakushev; L Lens; Ch E Düllmann; M Block; H Brand; T Calverley; M Dasgupta; A Di Nitto; M Götz; S Götz; H Haba; L Harkness-Brennan; R-D Herzberg; F P Heßberger; D Hinde; A Hübner; E Jäger; D Judson; J Khuyagbaatar; B Kindler; Y Komori; J Konki; J V Kratz; J Krier; N Kurz; M Laatiaoui; B Lommel; Christian Lorenz; M Maiti; A K Mistry; Ch Mokry; Y Nagame; P Papadakis; A Såmark-Roth; D Rudolph; J Runke; L G Sarmiento; T K Sato; M Schädel; P Scharrer; B Schausten; J Steiner; P Thörle-Pospiech; A Toyoshima; N Trautmann; J Uusitalo; A Ward; M Wegrzecki; V Yakusheva

doi:10.3389/fchem.2021.753738

First Study on Nihonium (Nh, Element 113) Chemistry at TASCA

Front Chem. 2021 Nov 30:9:753738. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2021.753738. eCollection 2021.

Authors

A Yakushev^{1

2}, L Lens^{1

3}, Ch E Düllmann^{1

2

3}, M Block^{1

2

3}, H Brand¹, T Calverley⁴, M Dasgupta⁵, A Di Nitto^{1

3}, M Götz^{1

2

3}, S Götz^{1

2

3}, H Haba⁶, L Harkness-Brennan⁴, R-D Herzberg⁴, F P Heßberger^{1

2}, D Hinde⁵, A Hübner¹, E Jäger¹, D Judson⁴, J Khuyagbaatar^{1

2}, B Kindler¹, Y Komori⁶, J Konki⁷, J V Kratz³, J Krier¹, N Kurz¹, M Laatiaoui^{1

2}, B Lommel¹, Christian Lorenz⁸, M Maiti⁹, A K Mistry^{1

2}, Ch Mokry^{2

3}, Y Nagame¹⁰, P Papadakis⁷, A Såmark-Roth⁸, D Rudolph⁸, J Runke^{1

3}, L G Sarmiento⁸, T K Sato¹⁰, M Schädel¹, P Scharrer^{1

2

3}, B Schausten¹, J Steiner¹, P Thörle-Pospiech^{2

3}, A Toyoshima¹⁰, N Trautmann³, J Uusitalo⁷, A Ward⁴, M Wegrzecki¹¹, V Yakusheva^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt, Germany.
² Helmholtz-Institut Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
³ Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
⁴ Department of Physics, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
⁵ Department of Nuclear Physics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
⁶ RIKEN, Wako, Saitama, Japan.
⁷ Department of Physics, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.
⁸ Department of Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
⁹ Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India.
¹⁰ Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai, Japan.
¹¹ Łukasiewicz-Instytut Mikroelektroniki I Fotoniki, Warsaw, Poland.

Abstract

Nihonium (Nh, element 113) and flerovium (Fl, element 114) are the first superheavy elements in which the 7p shell is occupied. High volatility and inertness were predicted for Fl due to the strong relativistic stabilization of the closed 7p _1/2 sub-shell, which originates from a large spin-orbit splitting between the 7p _1/2 and 7p _3/2 orbitals. One unpaired electron in the outermost 7p _1/2 sub-shell in Nh is expected to give rise to a higher chemical reactivity. Theoretical predictions of Nh reactivity are discussed, along with results of the first experimental attempts to study Nh chemistry in the gas phase. The experimental observations verify a higher chemical reactivity of Nh atoms compared to its neighbor Fl and call for the development of advanced setups. First tests of a newly developed detection device miniCOMPACT with highly reactive Fr isotopes assure that effective chemical studies of Nh are within reach.

Keywords: TASCA; element 113; gas phase chromatography; nihonium; physical preseparation; superheavy elements.

Copyright © 2021 Yakushev, Lens, Düllmann, Block, Brand, Calverley, Dasgupta, Di Nitto, Götz, Götz, Haba, Harkness-Brennan, Herzberg, Heßberger, Hinde, Hübner, Jäger, Judson, Khuyagbaatar, Kindler, Komori, Konki, Kratz, Krier, Kurz, Laatiaoui, Lommel, Lorenz, Maiti, Mistry, Mokry, Nagame, Papadakis, Såmark-Roth, Rudolph, Runke, Sarmiento, Sato, Schädel, Scharrer, Schausten, Steiner, Thörle-Pospiech, Toyoshima, Trautmann, Uusitalo, Ward, Wegrzecki and Yakusheva.