Nihonium

Nihonium is a synthetic, superheavy element with the chemical symbol Nh and atomic number 113. It occupies a place in Group 13 of the periodic table, directly below thallium, and shares some predicted properties with aluminium, gallium, indium, and thallium. Nihonium is one of the heaviest elements known to science, and its creation represents a major achievement in nuclear chemistry. Owing to its extreme instability and rapid radioactive decay, it currently has no practical everyday, industrial, or economic applications, yet it holds immense scientific importance in understanding the limits of atomic structure and the behaviour of superheavy elements.

Discovery and Naming

Nihonium was first synthesised in 2003 by a collaborative team of scientists from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia, and the Riken Nishina Centre for Accelerator-Based Science in Japan. The Riken team, led by Kosuke Morita, confirmed their results in 2012, marking the first time an element had been discovered in an Asian country.
The element was created by bombarding bismuth-209 (Bi-209) with zinc-70 (Zn-70) ions in a particle accelerator, producing one atom of nihonium and several isotopes through a nuclear fusion reaction. Following verification by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the name nihonium was officially adopted in 2016. The name derives from the Japanese word Nihon (日本), meaning “Japan,” to honour the nation where it was first synthesised.

Atomic and Physical Characteristics

Due to its fleeting existence—measured in milliseconds—nihonium’s physical and chemical properties are largely theoretical. Nevertheless, predictions based on its position in the periodic table and relativistic quantum calculations suggest the following traits:

• Appearance: Likely metallic, possibly silvery-white or grey.
• Density: Estimated to be around 16 g/cm³, denser than lead.
• Melting point: Unknown, though expected to be high.
• Chemical behaviour: Expected to be less reactive than thallium but more metallic in character than lighter congeners such as indium.
• Radioactivity: Extremely unstable, with its most stable isotope, nihonium-286, having a half-life of about 20 seconds.

Nihonium atoms decay rapidly via alpha emission, transforming into lighter elements such as roentgenium (Rg) and meitnerium (Mt).

Production and Isolation

Nihonium does not occur naturally and can only be synthesised artificially under highly controlled laboratory conditions. The process involves:

1. Accelerating zinc ions to extremely high speeds using a particle accelerator.
2. Directing the ion beam onto a bismuth target.
3. Detecting fusion products through advanced radiation detectors that record decay chains.

Each experimental run typically produces only a few atoms—sometimes just one—and the resulting atoms exist for only seconds before decaying. Because of this, it is impossible to accumulate enough nihonium for any practical use.

Scientific and Research Applications

Although nihonium has no direct applications in daily life or industry, its scientific value lies in what it reveals about nuclear stability and atomic theory.

• Superheavy element research: Nihonium is part of ongoing investigations into the so-called “island of stability”, a theoretical region of the periodic table where certain isotopes of superheavy elements might exhibit longer half-lives.
• Nuclear physics: Experiments with nihonium provide insights into the forces that bind protons and neutrons, helping refine models of nuclear reactions.
• Relativistic chemistry: As atomic numbers increase, electrons move at speeds approaching the speed of light, altering chemical behaviour. Studies of nihonium contribute to understanding these relativistic effects, which challenge traditional periodic trends.
• Technological development: The creation of nihonium advances accelerator technology, radiation detection systems, and data analysis techniques, which have secondary applications in medical imaging, radiotherapy, and materials research.

Lack of Everyday and Industrial Applications

Because of its rarity, instability, and short half-life, nihonium has no everyday or industrial uses. The key reasons are:

• Short half-life: The longest-lived isotope exists for only about 20 seconds, preventing accumulation or utilisation.
• Scarcity: Only a few atoms have ever been synthesised, at immense cost and technical difficulty.
• Radioactivity: The element emits alpha radiation, requiring specialised containment systems unsuitable for industrial contexts.
• Economic impracticality: Production requires multi-million-pound accelerator facilities, far outweighing any conceivable benefit from the element itself.

Hence, unlike elements such as aluminium or indium, which have extensive roles in manufacturing and electronics, nihonium’s significance remains purely academic.

Economic and Strategic Relevance

While nihonium has no commercial market or industrial demand, its discovery and study have indirect economic and strategic significance:

• Scientific prestige: The successful synthesis of nihonium symbolises national achievement and scientific leadership, especially for Japan, as it was the first element discovered in Asia.
• Technological investment: Research surrounding nihonium contributes to innovation in high-energy physics, advanced detectors, and computational chemistry—all sectors that foster broader technological development.
• Human capital: Such large-scale scientific projects drive expertise in nuclear engineering, accelerator operation, and data analytics, strengthening national scientific infrastructure.

Thus, while nihonium itself lacks direct economic utility, its research ecosystem indirectly benefits science, technology, and education.

Predicted Chemical Behaviour

As a member of Group 13, nihonium would theoretically exhibit oxidation states similar to those of its lighter counterparts:

• +1 (most stable state, similar to thallium(I))
• +3 (possible but less stable due to relativistic effects)

Predicted compounds might include nihonium(I) chloride (NhCl) and nihonium(III) oxide (Nh₂O₃), though none have been observed. Its reactivity is expected to be lower than that of thallium, perhaps making it more volatile or noble-like under certain conditions.
Theoretical chemistry suggests nihonium may behave more like a post-transition metal with weak metallic bonding, influenced heavily by relativistic stabilisation of its outer electrons. These predictions, though untested, help refine the understanding of periodic trends for heavy elements.

Broader Scientific Importance

Nihonium’s discovery marks an important step in expanding the periodic table and exploring the boundaries of chemical stability. The synthesis of such superheavy elements offers deeper insight into how atomic nuclei are formed, how they decay, and where the limits of matter might lie.
This research also helps:

• Test quantum mechanical theories under extreme nuclear charge.
• Improve models of nuclear decay and isotopic lifetimes.
• Inform potential pathways toward more stable superheavy elements.

In this sense, nihonium contributes to humanity’s understanding of the structure of matter, even though it has no tangible role in everyday technologies.

Future Prospects

Ongoing experiments aim to synthesise heavier isotopes of nihonium with slightly longer half-lives, enabling more detailed chemical studies. As detection and accelerator methods improve, scientists may eventually observe nihonium’s chemical interactions directly, confirming or refuting theoretical predictions.
Although practical uses are unlikely due to its inherent instability, nihonium remains scientifically valuable as part of the broader exploration of superheavy element chemistry, which may one day lead to the discovery of new materials with unprecedented properties.