One important frontier in modern nuclear science is the production of superheavy elements and the investigation of their properties. However, one of the biggest problems in superheavy element chemistry is the short half-lives of the elements involved. Texas A&M University chemist and Cyclotron Institute member Dr. Cody Folden is working with Dr. Patrick Steinegger from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI)/ETH Zürich in Switzerland to develop new instruments to overcome this limitation.
The two heavy element chemistry research groups recently teamed with members of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency to perform a collaborative experiment at the Cyclotron Institute using accelerated heavy ion beams from Texas A&M’s K150 cyclotron and the AGGIE gas-filled separator in combination with PSI/ETH Zürich’s GLACIER buffer gas cell and radiofrequency quadrupole. Their goal was to benchmark a new vacuum chromatography technique for identifying the decay chain of signals produced during nuclear fusion reactions — in this case involving two short-lived radioisotopes of mercury (Hg), Hg-178 and Hg-179. Their results, published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C, demonstrate the validity of their approach, which potentially could be used to study the chemical properties of superheavy elements and to answer fundamental questions about the periodic table.
For more than a decade, Folden has been studying nuclear fusion reactions with calcium-48, titanium-50 (Ti-50) and other projectiles. In late 2024, his research helped guide a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory-led international collaboration that included Folden and two of his graduate students in making the known superheavy element livermorium using a titanium beam. In addition to marking the first successful production of a superheavy element with Ti-50, the breakthrough was a key step toward future experiments to search for the currently unknown element 120.
Folden's research program is primarily supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.