Flerovium (Fl)
Overview of Flerovium
Flerovium is a synthetic, highly radioactive element with atomic number 114. Only a handful of atoms have ever been produced, and its most stable isotope, flerovium-289, has a half-life of about 2.6 seconds. With such a fleeting existence, flerovium has no practical uses beyond research. It was named in honor of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions in Dubna, Russia, where it was first synthesized.
How Flerovium Is Made
Flerovium does not occur naturally and must be created in particle accelerators through nuclear fusion reactions.
First synthesis (1998): A Russian team led by Yuri Oganessian and Vladimir Utyonkov at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) produced flerovium by bombarding plutonium-244 with calcium-48 ions.
Scale of the experiment: Roughly 5 quintillion calcium ions had to be fired at the plutonium target over 40 days to create just a single atom of flerovium.
Other attempts have since confirmed the creation of additional isotopes of flerovium, though all decay in seconds.
Uses and Biological Role of Flerovium
Because of its extreme instability and rarity, flerovium has no commercial or practical uses. It is valuable only to researchers studying the chemistry of the heaviest elements.
Scientists are especially interested in flerovium because it lies at the edge of the theoretical “island of stability”—a predicted region of superheavy nuclei that may have longer half-lives and unique chemical properties.
Flerovium has no biological role and is considered toxic due to its intense radioactivity.
History of Flerovium
1998 – Discovery: First synthesized at JINR in Dubna, Russia, by a team led by Yuri Oganessian and Vladimir Utyonkov, who created flerovium-289 by fusing plutonium with calcium.
1999 – Confirmation: A few more atoms were successfully created, supporting the original claim.
2012 – Naming: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) officially named the element flerovium to honor Russian physicist Georgy Flyorov and the laboratory he established.