Darmstadtium

Darmstadtium:

The entry to the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, where darmstadtium was first made. The Centre is located near the town of Darmstadt in Germany. Photo credit: commander-pirx at German Wikipedia / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

Facts about Darmstadtium:

• Darmstadtium: Predicted to be a solid at STP and to probably have chemical properties like Transition Metals.
• Fun fact about Darmstadtium: Darmstadtium is named after the town of Darmstadt in Germany, as darmstadtium was first made in a research centre just outside the town.
• Chemical symbol: Ds
• Atomic number: 110

A crystal structure celebrating Darmstadtium:

The crystal structure of C₂₀ H₂₂ N₄ Ni O₁₀ Pb. (Colour code C: black, H: pink, N: blue, O: red, Pb: grey, Ni: green).  This structure contains both lead and nickel. Darmstadtium is made by firing nickel nuclei at a lead target.

Facts about this structure:

• Formula: C₂₀ H₂₂ N₄ Ni O₁₀ Pb
• Structure name: (μ₂-2,2'-(ethane-1,2-diylbis((nitrilo)methylylidene))-bis(6-ethoxyphenolato))-dinitrato-lead(ii)-nickel(ii)
• Fun fact about the structure: This material contains both nickel and lead, the two elements that are fused together to make darmstradtium.
• CSD refcode: ECEBAR (What's this?)
• Associated publication: S.Sarkar, S.Mohanta, RSC Advances,  2011, 1, 640, DOI: 10.1039/c1ra00144b

More info:

Darmstadtium is named after the town of Darmstadt in Germany.  Darmstradtium is highly radioactive, and it's longest lived isotope has a half-life of about 4 minutes.  It was first made in 1994, at the Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, by colliding nickel and lead.  Other elements were also discovered at this research centre, including bohrium, meitnerium, and copernicium.  Darmstradtium is (so far) the only element discovered there that has not been named after a person.  So few atoms of darmstradtium have ever been made, that nothing is known about its chemistry, we don't even know what it looks like!

More info about the International Year of the Periodic Table (IYPT) in crystals project:

This project (#IYPTCrystals) is part of the International Year of the Periodic Table celebration (#IYPT2019), read more about the project here. You can follow us on social media using #IYPTCrystals and learn more about the wonders of crystals by following the CCDC on Twitter @ccdc_cambridge on Facebook ccdc.cambridge, on Instagram ccdc_cambridge or on YouTube CCDCCambridge.

If you want to find out more about some of the terms and concepts we have a Frequently Asked Questions Page.

A visualisation showing the structure celebrating Darmstadtium alongside other structures published in the same scientific article: