Darmstadtium

Darmstadtium (Ds) is a synthetic element with atomic number 110. It is a member of the transactinide series and is the heaviest element to have been discovered in a laboratory setting. The element is named after Darmstadt, Germany, where the research facility that produced it is located.

Darmstadtium was first synthesized in 1994 at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt by a collaboration led by Sigurd Hofmann and Peter Armbruster. The discovery was reported in 1994; for a period it was referred to by the temporary systematic name ununnilium (Uun) before the IUPAC name Darmstadtium was adopted in 2003. Its symbol is Ds.

Production and properties: Darmstadtium is produced only in minuscule quantities through nuclear fusion reactions in particle accelerators. The nuclei created rapidly decay, and only a few atoms have been observed for any given isotope. The known isotopes of darmstadtium have very short half-lives, ranging from milliseconds to seconds, and decay mainly via alpha decay or spontaneous fission.

Predicted and observed properties: Being in group 10, darmstadtium is expected to share some chemistry with platinum group elements. However, relativistic effects and the extreme instability of the atoms make experimental chemistry challenging, and no extensive chemical studies have established definitive properties. The element is primarily of interest for nuclear and atomic physics research, including studies of the structure of superheavy elements and the limits of the periodic table.