Darmstadtium, is a synthetic element that is not present in the environment at all. The interested reader should consult the on-line version ofCreating Super Heavy Elements for a fascinating insight into research on "super-heavy" atoms.
Chemically, darmstadtium is in the same Group as nickel, palladium, and platinum (Group 10). Unlike these lighter atoms, darmstadtium decays after a small fraction of a thousandth of a second into lighter elements by emitting α-particles which are the nuclei of helium atoms.
Binary compounds with halogens (known as halides), oxygen (known as oxides), hydrogen (known as hydrides), and other compounds of darmstadtium where known.
Darmstadtium wasdiscovered by S. Hofmann, V. Ninov, F. P. Hessberger, P. Armbruster, H. Folger, G. Münzenberg, H. J. Schött, and others in 1994 at Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) in Darmstadt, Germany..Origin of name: the name darmstadtium lies within the long established tradition of naming an element after the place of its discovery, Darmstadt, in Germany..
Isolation: only a few atoms of darmstadtium have ever been made, initially through a nuclear reaction involving fusion of an isotope of lead, Pb, with one of nickel, Ni.
208Pb +62Ni →269Ds +1n
Isolation of an observable quantity has never been achieved, and may well never be. This is because atoms of the element decompose through the emission of α-particles with a half life of only about 270 microseconds. Another isotope was made by using a different isotope of nickel.
Density of solid: 27400 (predicted) kg m-3
Molar volume: 10 (rough estimate based upon density estimate) cm3
Thermal conductivity: (no data) W m‑1 K‑1
Melting point: (no data) K
Boiling point: (no data) K
Enthalpy of fusion: 20.5 kJ mol-1
Atomic radius (empirical): (no data) pm
Molecular single bond covalent radius: 128 (coordination number 3) ppm
van der Waals radius: (no data) ppm
Pauling electronegativity: (no data) (Pauling units)
Allred Rochow electronegativity: (no data) (Pauling units)
Mulliken-Jaffe electronegativity: (no data)
First ionisation energy: 955 kJ mol‑1
Second ionisation energy: (no data) kJ mol‑1
Third ionisation energy: (no data) kJ mol‑1
Universe: (no data) ppb by weight
Crustal rocks: (no data) ppb by weight
Human: (no data) ppb by weight
