Chemistry Nexus

117Notes from the 31st meeting of PAC for Nuclear Physics seems to suggest that a claim for element 117 (at the base of the halogen column) may come in the coming weeks and months. It’s not very clear which isotopes may have been formed so watch this space.

IV. Experiments on the synthesis of element 117

The PAC heard with great interest the report on the results of the experiment dedicated to the synthesis of element 117 in the ⁴⁸Ca + ²⁴⁹Bk reaction. The PAC congratulates the staff of the Flerov Laboratory on the discovery of element 117 and new isotopes of elements 115, 113, 111, 109, 107, and 105. The discovery of chains of two neighboring isotopes emphasizes the importance of the odd-even and odd-odd effect for such heavy nuclei. It is in fact especially interesting that the odd-odd chain (3n channel) neighboring to the odd-even chain (4n channel) is twice longer (6 α particles).