On the volatility of nihonium (Nh, Z = 113

Abstract

Gas-phase chromatography studies of nihonium (Nh, Z= 113 were carried out at the one-atom-at-a-time level. For the production of nihonium, the heavy-ion-induced nuclear fusion reaction of 48 Ca with 243 Am was used. This leads to isotopes 284, 285 Nh, as the direct descendants of the α -decaying precursors 288, 289 Mc. Combining the Dubna Gas-Filled Recoil Separator with gas-phase chromatographic separation, the experiment was sensitive to elemental nihonium and its adsorption behavior on Teflon, theoretically predicted by modern relativistic density functional theory. The non-observation of any decays of Nh after the chemical separation indicates a larger than expected retention of elemental Nh on a Teflon surface.