Microscopic interaction of single atomic elemental Hg with a sulfur surface

Abstract

In preparation of chemical investigations of the superheavy elements (SHEs) copernicium and flerovium, model experiments with 197Hg were conducted. The interaction of elemental mercury on a sulfur surface was investigated by off-line isothermal gas chromatography. Although the formation of HgS(s) is thermodynamically favored, a strong kinetic hindrance is observed at room temperature, and thus only adsorption interactions could be addressed. A dependence of the adsorption interaction strength on the allotropic transformations of the sulfur surface was observed. The high temperatures needed to promote the chemical interaction of Hg with S prevent sulfur from being a suitable chromatographic surface for SHEs experiments with the state-of-the-art gas phase technology.