Bismuth-209

Decay properties

Bismuth-209 was long thought to have the heaviest stable nucleus of any element, but in 2003, a research team at the in Orsay, France, discovered that Bi undergoes alpha decay with a half-life now given more precisely as years (20.1 quintillion years), The heaviest nucleus considered to be stable is now lead-208 and the heaviest stable monoisotopic element is gold (gold-197).

Theory had previously predicted a half-life of 4.6 years. It had been suspected to be radioactive for a long time. The decay produces a 3.14 MeV alpha particle plus thallium-205.

Due to its extremely long half-life, Bi can be treated as non-radioactive for nearly all applications. It is much less radioactive than human flesh, so it poses no real radiation hazard. Though Bi holds the half-life record for alpha decay, it does not have the longest known half-life of any nuclide; this distinction belongs to tellurium-128 (Te) with a half-life estimated at years by double beta decay.

The half-life of Bi was confirmed in 2012 by an Italian team in Gran Sasso who reported years. They also reported an even longer partial half-life for alpha decay of Bi to the first excited state of Tl (at 204 keV), estimated at 1.66 years. Even though this value is shorter than the half-life of Te, both alpha decays of Bi hold the record of the thinnest natural line widths of any measurable physical excitation, estimated respectively at ΔΕ ≈ and ΔΕ ≈ in application of the uncertainty principle (beta or double beta decay would produce energy lines only in neutrinoless transitions, which have never been observed).

Applications

Because all primordial bismuth is bismuth-209, bismuth-209 is used for all normal applications of bismuth, such as being used as a replacement for lead, in cosmetics, in paints, and in several medicines such as Pepto-Bismol. Alloys containing bismuth-209 such as bismuth bronze have been used for thousands of years.

Synthesis of other elements

Po can be manufactured by bombarding Bi with neutrons in a nuclear reactor Po and Po can be made through the proton bombardment of Bi in a cyclotron. Astatine can also be produced by bombarding Bi with alpha particles. Traces of Bi have also been used to create gold in nuclear reactors.

Bi has been used as a target for the creation of several isotopes of superheavy elements such as dubnium, bohrium, meitnerium, |display-authors=etal}} roentgenium, and nihonium.{{cite journal|journal=Journal of the Physical Society of Japan|volume=81|article-number=103201 |date=2012|title=New Results in the Production and Decay of an Isotope, 113, of the 113th Element|author=K. Morita|doi=10.1143/JPSJ.81.103201|last2=Morimoto|first2=Kouji|last3=Kaji|first3=Daiya|last4=Haba|first4=Hiromitsu|last5=Ozeki|first5=Kazutaka|last6=Kudou|first6=Yuki|last7=Sumita|first7=Takayuki|last8=Wakabayashi|first8=Yasuo|last9=Yoneda|first9=Akira|first10=Kengo |last10=Tanaka|first11=Sayaka |last11=Yamaki|first12=Ryutaro |last12=Sakai|first13=Takahiro |last13=Akiyama|first14=Shin-ichi |last14=Goto|first15=Hiroo |last15=Hasebe|first16=Minghui |last16=Huang|first17=Tianheng |last17=Huang|first18=Eiji |last18=Ideguchi|first19=Yoshitaka |last19=Kasamatsu|first20=Kenji |last20=Katori|first21=Yoshiki |last21=Kariya|first22=Hidetoshi |last22=Kikunaga|first23=Hiroyuki |last23=Koura|first24=Hisaaki |last24=Kudo|first25=Akihiro |last25=Mashiko|first26=Keita |last26=Mayama|first27=Shin-ichi |last27=Mitsuoka|first28=Toru |last28=Moriya|first29=Masashi |last29=Murakami|first30=Hirohumi |last30=Murayama|first31=Saori |last31=Namai|first32=Akira |last32=Ozawa|first33=Nozomi |last33=Sato|first34=Keisuke |last34=Sueki|first35=Mirei |last35=Takeyama|first36=Fuyuki |last36=Tokanai|first37=Takayuki |last37=Yamaguchi|first38=Atsushi |last38=Yoshida

Formation

Primordial

In the red giant stars of the asymptotic giant branch, the s-process (slow process) is ongoing to produce bismuth-209 and polonium-210 by neutron capture as the heaviest elements to be formed, and the latter quickly decays. All elements heavier than it are formed in the r-process, or rapid process, which occurs during the first fifteen minutes of supernovas.

Radiogenic

Some Bi was created radiogenically from the neptunium decay chain. Neptunium-237 is an extinct radionuclide, but it can be found in traces in uranium ores because of neutron capture reactions. This is also ultimately due to the r-process, as every (4n+1) nucleus formed (and not fissioned) ultimately decayed to bismuth.

Notes

**polonium-209 **(β) **lead-209 (β)

References

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