Dubnium
Dubnium is a synthetic superheavy element made atom by atom in particle accelerators, named directly after the Russian town of Dubna, home to the laboratory that played a central role in its discovery. Like its neighbors on the periodic table, it has no practical use and exists only for nuclear physics research.
- Group · Period
- 5 · 7
- At room temp
- solid
- Melts at
- Not yet available
- Density
- Not yet available
- Discovered
- 1967
Uses
Dubnium has no practical use outside of research. It’s produced only in minute quantities, one atom at a time, and decays too quickly for any commercial or industrial purpose to be conceivable. Its role is entirely scientific, helping researchers probe how nuclear stability and chemistry change as atomic number climbs into the superheavy region of the periodic table.
History
Both the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna and Berkeley’s Lawrence Radiation Laboratory reported synthesizing element 105 in the late 1960s, each proposing a different name for it. As with rutherfordium, the resulting dispute over credit and naming became part of the broader Transfermium Wars, a standoff between Cold War-era American and Soviet scientific institutions that international chemistry bodies spent years untangling. The name dubnium, honoring the Dubna laboratory itself, was formally adopted in 1997.
Fun facts
- Dubnium is named directly after Dubna, Russia, home to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research where competing discovery claims originated.
- Its discovery and naming, like rutherfordium's, were disputed for decades as part of the 'Transfermium Wars' between American and Soviet-era scientists.
- Every atom of dubnium ever detected has been identified individually, by tracking the specific chain of radioactive decays it produces.
Frequently asked questions
Does dubnium have any practical use?
No, dubnium has no commercial or industrial use. It has only ever been produced a handful of atoms at a time, purely to study the nuclear physics of superheavy elements.
Why is it named after a Russian town?
It honors Dubna, the town where the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research is based and where much of the early work claiming its discovery took place — one of relatively few elements named after a place rather than a person.
How can scientists study something with so few atoms?
Each atom produced in an accelerator is identified indirectly, by detecting the specific sequence of radioactive decays it undergoes as it breaks down into lighter, already-known elements. That decay signature acts like a fingerprint confirming which element was briefly created.
Isotopes
13 known isotopes
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| Isotope | Natural abundance | Half-life | Decay mode | Mass excess | Binding energy / nucleon | Decay width |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Db-267 | — | 79 m | Spontaneous fission (100%), Alpha decay (25%) | 114,014 keV | 7,337 keV | 9.63 × 10-20 eV |
| Db-268 | — | 28 h | Spontaneous fission (100%), Electron capture / beta-plus decay, Alpha decay | 117,060 keV | 7,328 keV | 4.53 × 10-21 eV |
| Db-270 | — | 15 h | Spontaneous fission (100%), Alpha decay | 122,397 keV | 7,314 keV | 8.45 × 10-21 eV |
Show all 13 isotopes
| Db-255 | — | 1.6 s | Alpha decay (80%), Spontaneous fission (20%) | 99,595 keV | 7,359 keV | 2.85 × 10-16 eV |
| Db-256 | — | 1.6 s | Alpha decay (70%), Electron capture (30%), Spontaneous fission | 100,298 keV | 7,359 keV | 2.85 × 10-16 eV |
| Db-257 | — | 2.3 s | Alpha decay (94%), Spontaneous fission (6%) | 100,154.29 keV | 7,361.98 keV | 1.98 × 10-16 eV |
| Db-258 | — | 4.3 s | Alpha decay (77%), Electron capture / beta-plus decay (23%) | 101,507.7 keV | 7,359.48 keV | 1.06 × 10-16 eV |
| Db-259 | — | 0.51 s | Alpha decay | 101,991.02 keV | 7,360.36 keV | 8.95 × 10-16 eV |
| Db-260 | — | 1.52 s | Alpha decay (90.4%), Spontaneous fission (9.6%), Electron capture (2.5%) | 103,673 keV | 7,357 keV | 3.00 × 10-16 eV |
| Db-261 | — | 1.8 s | Alpha decay (82%), Spontaneous fission (18%) | 104,308 keV | 7,357 keV | 2.53 × 10-16 eV |
| Db-262 | — | 35 s | Alpha decay (67%) | 106,253 keV | 7,352 keV | 1.30 × 10-17 eV |
| Db-263 | — | 27 s | Spontaneous fission (57%), Alpha decay (43%) | 107,110 keV | 7,352 keV | 1.69 × 10-17 eV |
| Db-266 | — | 0.4 h | Spontaneous fission (100%), Electron capture, Alpha decay | 112,740 keV | 7,339 keV | 3.17 × 10-19 eV |