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If the researchers can achieve their goal, they will not only add a new row to the periodic table, but also will revolutionize the chemistry of heavy elements. There are currently 118 known elements listed in the periodic table, from hydrogen, which has a single proton in its nucleus, to oganezone, which was officially named in 2016 and contains at least 294 subatomic particles (118 protons) packed into the centers of its atoms. and at least 176 neutrons), reports Channel 24, citing Live Science.

But researchers know theoretically that: Even heavier elements must exist in space. They even predicted how these elements would look and behave. But to find them, we must either discover new ways to synthesize them on Earth or scan the entire solar system for their potential location.

The two most promising potential candidates are element 119, previously called ununninium, and element 120, also known as unbinillium. These elements are so large that they do not fit in any row of the periodic table. If you create them, they will be added to a new line. However, despite numerous attempts, none of them could be synthesized.

In a new study published Oct. 21 in the journal Physical Review Letters, scientists demonstrate a new technique for creating the superheavy element livemorium (element 116) by bombarding plutonium-244, an isotope of plutonium, with extra neutrons, vaporized ions, or charged ions. . titanium atoms.

Researchers believe that The same technique can be used to create unbiniliumThe californium isotope, which is heavier than plutonium, bombards titanium ions. The new study is an important proof of concept that will allow scientists to accelerate their research into the hypothetical element.

This reaction had never been demonstrated before, and it was important to prove that it was possible before continuing our attempt to create it. [елемент] 120. Creating a new element is an extremely rare achievement,
– says the study’s lead author, Jacqueline Gates, a nuclear scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

But it may take some time for researchers to create unbinilium. In this study, it took more than 22 days to create just two livermorium atoms in Berkeley Lab’s 88-inch cyclotron, which continuously fires titanium ions at the plutonium isotope. Unbinilium may take even longer to form.

Scientists say that element 120 lasts about 10 times longer than element 116.

Normally, superheavy elements decay rapidly after formation because they are very unstable. But researchers predict that when elements reach a certain size, they will enter an “island of stability” where they will remain intact for much longer than other superheavy isotopes known today.

Unbinilium is expected to be able to reach this “island of stability,” so its creation would open up a range of possibilities for the study of superheavy elements, the study’s authors say. However, there is a possibility that the hypothetical element may not behave as expected.