- Flerovium (Fl) is a synthetic, radioactive element with atomic number 114, located in Group 14 of the periodic table, beneath lead. It is part of the transactinide series and belongs to the p-block elements.
- Its predicted electron configuration is [Rn] 5f¹⁴ 6d¹⁰ 7s² 7p², consistent with other Group 14 members such as carbon, silicon, germanium, tin, and lead. However, relativistic effects strongly influence flerovium’s chemical behavior, leading to predictions that it may display properties more similar to noble gases than to metals. The atom contains one hundred and fourteen protons, about one hundred and seventy-five to one hundred and seventy-nine neutrons depending on the isotope, and one hundred and fourteen electrons arranged in seven shells.
- The most stable isotope known is flerovium-289 (²⁸⁹Fl), with a half-life of around 2.6 seconds, although some isotopes may survive for longer, up to a few minutes in certain decay chains.
- Flerovium was first synthesized on December 9, 1998, at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia, by a team led by Yuri Oganessian. The discovery involved bombarding a plutonium-244 (²⁴⁴Pu) target with calcium-48 (⁴⁸Ca) ions, resulting in the creation of flerovium-289 (²⁸⁹Fl). Several successful experiments later confirmed its existence, and it was recognized as element 114.
- The element was named flerovium in honor of Georgy Flerov, a Soviet physicist who discovered the spontaneous fission of uranium in 1940 and later founded the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions at JINR, where many superheavy elements were discovered. The name and symbol Fl were officially approved by IUPAC in 2012.
- Flerovium has no practical uses because of its extreme rarity and short half-life. It is significant mainly for nuclear physics research, particularly in exploring the predicted “island of stability” of superheavy elements and testing the periodic table’s limits.
- Chemically, flerovium’s behavior is unusual. While it is expected to show similarities to lead, theoretical models suggest it might be unexpectedly volatile or even noble-gas-like. Some calculations propose that flerovium could form weak compounds such as flerovium(II) chloride (FlCl₂) or flerovium(IV) fluoride (FlF₄), but experimental confirmation is lacking. A few preliminary experiments in 2007 hinted that flerovium may be relatively inert, possibly behaving more like radon than lead.
- Biologically, flerovium has no natural role and would be highly radiotoxic if available in macroscopic amounts, though its fleeting half-lives prevent any biological interaction.
- Environmentally, flerovium does not occur naturally. It can only be created in laboratory conditions and decays rapidly into lighter elements, leaving no environmental trace.
