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 about Darmstadtium:
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!
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A 3D visualization showing Darmstadtium in real crystal structures: