Americium

What is Americium?

• Americium is a man-made actinide element with the atomic number 95 and no stable isotopes, according to the periodic table.
• Glenn Seaborg, Leon Morgan, Ralph James, and Albert Ghiorso discovered it in 1944, and B.B. Cunningham isolated it as the isotope 241Am in Am(OH)3 in the fall of 1945.
• It was given the name America (Seaborg 1991; Seaborg and Loveland 1990).
• Actinides are the 15 elements with atomic numbers ranging from 89 to 103, beginning with actinium and concluding with lawrencium.

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Symbol	Am
Atomic Number	95
Atomic Mass	(243)
Discovered by	Americium was discovered by Glenn Seaborg and colleagues.

Element Information

Group	Actinides	Melting point	1176°C, 2149°F, 1449 K
Period	7	Boiling point	2011°C, 3652°F, 2284 K
Block	f	Density (g cm−3)	12
Atomic number	95	Relative atomic mass	[243]
State at 20°C	Solid	Key isotopes	241Am, 243Am
Electron configuration	[Rn] 5f77s2	CAS number	7440-35-9
ChemSpider ID	22405	ChemSpider is a free chemical database

Production of Americium

Americium has been created from the 239Pu isotope of plutonium in nuclear reactors for several decades. In nuclear reactors, Uranium is first transformed to Plutonium isotope 239Pu, then 239Pu captures two neutrons, followed by beta decay, yielding Americium – 241. (241Am).

Properties of Americium

• The most stable oxidation state for americium is +3. It quickly interacts with oxygen, hydrogen, halogen, and a number of other elements, and it dissolves in aqueous acids.
• Americium has multiple oxidation states, including +2, +3,+4,+5,+6, and +7. Compounds of americium with an oxidation state of +4 or higher are potent oxidizers.
• AmO2+2 is an oxidant as potent as KMnO4.
• In an aqueous solution, americium compounds have the following tint:
• Am³⁺ – yellow-reddish
• Am⁴⁺ – yellow-reddish
• AmO₂⁺ – yellow
• AmO₂⁺² – brown
• AmO₆⁵⁻ – dark green

Uses of Americium

• Americium-241 (241Am) is utilized in extremely minute levels in ionization smoke detectors for homes. Americium shares several similarities with plutonium (Pu). While the public accepts the use of minute quantities of 241Am in residential smoke detectors, the public’s reaction to the transfer of any quantity of 239Pu under appropriate restrictions is quite different.
• It contributes to the creation of nuclear energy as a decay product.
• In the coming years, Americium can serve as a suitable replacement for Plutonium in the production of spacecraft batteries, due to its scarcity.
• Americium -241 is a valuable source of alpha particles in the laboratory.

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