Curium

americium ← curium → berkelium Gd ↑ Cm ↓ (Uqh) 96Cm Periodic table
Appearance
silvery
General properties
Name, symbol, number	curium, Cm, 96
Pronunciation	/ˈkjʊəriəm/ KEWR-ee-əm
Element category	actinide
Group, period, block	n/a, 7, f
Standard atomic weight	(247)g·mol−1
Electron configuration	[Rn] 5f7 6d1 7s2
Electrons per shell	2, 8, 18, 32, 25, 9, 2 (Image)
Physical properties
Phase	solid
Density (near r.t.)	13.51 g·cm−3
Melting point	1613 K, 1340 °C, 2444 °F
Boiling point	3383 K, 3110 °C, 5630 °F
Heat of fusion	? 15 kJ·mol−1
Vapor pressure
P (Pa) 1 10 100 1 k 10 k 100 k at T (K) 1788 1982
Atomic properties
Oxidation states	4, 3 (amphoteric oxide)
Electronegativity	1.3 (Pauling scale)
Ionization energies	1st: 581 kJ·mol−1
Atomic radius	174 pm
Covalent radius	169±3 pm
Miscellanea
Crystal structure	hexagonal close-packed
Magnetic ordering	antiferromagnetic→paramagnetic transition at 52 K[1]
Electrical resistivity	1.25[1] µΩ·m
CAS registry number	7440-51-9
Most stable isotopes
Main article: Isotopes of curium
iso NA half-life DM DE (MeV) DP 242Cm syn 160 days SF - - α 6.1 238Pu 243Cm syn 29.1 y α 6.169 239Pu ε 0.009 243Am SF - - 244Cm syn 18.1 y SF - - α 5.8048 240Pu 245Cm syn 8500 y SF - - α 5.623 241Pu 246Cm syn 4730 y α 5.475 242Pu SF - - 247Cm syn 1.56×107 y α 5.353 243Pu 248Cm syn 3.40×105 y α 5.162 244Pu SF - - 250Cm syn 9000 y SF - - α 5.169 246Pu β− 0.037 250Bk

Curium (pronounced /ˈkjʊəriəm/ KEWR-ee-əm) is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol Cm and atomic number 96. A radioactive metallic transuranic element of the actinide series, curium is produced by bombarding plutonium with alpha particles (helium ions) and was named after Marie Skłodowska-Curie and her husband Pierre.

Characteristics

The isotope curium-248 has been synthesized only in milligram quantities, but curium-242 and curium-244 are made in gram amounts, which allows for the determination of some of the element's properties. Curium-244 can be made in quantity by subjecting plutonium to neutron bombardment. Curium does not occur in nature. There are few commercial applications for curium but it may one day be useful in radioisotope thermoelectric generators. Curium bio-accumulates in bone tissue where its radiation destroys bone marrow and thus stops red blood cell creation.

A rare earth homolog, curium is somewhat chemically similar to gadolinium but with a more complex crystal structure. Chemically reactive, its metal is silvery-white in color and the element is more electropositive than aluminium (most trivalent curium compounds are slightly yellow).

Curium has been studied greatly as a potential fuel for radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG). Curium-242 can generate up to 120 watts of thermal energy per gram (W/g); however, its very short half-life makes it undesirable as a power source for long-term use. Curium-242 can decay by alpha emission to plutonium-238 which is the most common fuel for RTGs. Curium-244 has also been studied as an energy source for RTGs having a maximum energy density ~3 W/g,^[2] but produces a large amount of neutron radiation from spontaneous fission. Curium-243 with a ~30 year half-life and good energy density of ~1.6 W/g would seem to make an ideal fuel, but it produces significant amounts of gamma and beta radiation from radioactive decay products.

Isotopes

19 radioisotopes of curium have been characterized, with the most stable being Cm-247 with a half-life of 1.56 × 10⁷ years, Cm-248 with a half-life of 3.40 × 10⁵ years, Cm-250 with a half-life of 9000 years, and Cm-245 with a half-life of 8500 years. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 30 years, and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than 33 days. This element also has 4 meta states, with the most stable being Cm-244m (t_½ 34 ms). The isotopes of curium range in atomic weight from 233.051 u (Cm-233) to 252.085 u (Cm-252).

Chemistry

Some compounds of curium are:

• curium dioxide (CmO₂)
• curium trioxide (Cm₂O₃)
• curium bromide (CmBr₃)
• curium chloride (CmCl₃)
• curium tetrafluoride (CmF₄)
• curium iodide (CmI₃)

History

Curium was first synthesized at the University of California, Berkeley by Glenn T. Seaborg, Ralph A. James, and Albert Ghiorso in 1944.^[3] The team named the new element after Marie Curie and her husband Pierre who are famous for discovering radium and for their work in radioactivity. This was the first time an element was named after a historical person. Curium was chemically identified at the Metallurgical Laboratory (now Argonne National Laboratory) at the University of Chicago. It was actually the third transuranium element to be discovered even though it is the fourth in the series. Curium-242 (half-life 163 days) and one free neutron were made by bombarding alpha particles onto a plutonium-239 target in the 60-inch cyclotron at Berkeley.^[4]

23994Pu + 42He → 24296Cm + 10n

Due to the fact that the discovery of the new elements, curium and americium, was closely related to the Manhattan Project the results were confidential and publication was impossible. Seaborg announced the discovery of the elements on the radio show for kids, the Quiz Kids, five days before the official presentation at an American Chemical Society meeting on November 11, 1945.^[5] Seaborg also patented the synthesis of the new elements.^[6]

Louis Werner and Isadore Perlman created a visible sample of curium-242 hydroxide at the University of California in 1947 by bombarding americium-241 with neutrons.^[7] Curium was made in its elemental form in 1951 for the first time.^[8][9]

Applications

Nuclear fuel cycle

Transmutation flow between ²³⁸Pu and ²⁴⁴Cm in LWR.^[10]
Fission percentage is 100 minus shown percentages.
Total rate of transmutation varies greatly by nuclide.
²⁴⁵Cm–²⁴⁸Cm are long-lived with negligible decay.

The odd-mass number isotopes are fissile, the even-mass number isotopes are not and can only capture neutrons, but very slowly. Therefore in a thermal reactor the even-mass isotopes accumulate as burnup increases.

The MOX which is to be used in power reactors should contain little or no curium as the neutron activation of ²⁴⁸Cm will create californium which is a strong neutron emitter. The californium would pollute the back end of the fuel cycle and increase the dose to workers. Hence if the minor actinides are to be used as fuel in a thermal neutron reactor, the curium should be excluded from the fuel or placed in special fuel rods where it is the only actinide present.

Thermoelectric generators

The Curium isotopes ²⁴⁴Cm and ²⁴²Cm are strong alpha emitters with a halflife in the months to years range and produce considerable heat during this process. These properties make them useful for applications as alpha particle source and as heat generator in radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG).

A ²⁴⁴Curium source is used for the Alpha particle X-ray spectrometer on board several American and European space missions, for example the Mars Exploration Rover^[13] and the Rosetta/Philae. The use in RTG is proposed for several future missions.^[14][15]

References

Literature

• Guide to the Elements - Revised Edition, Albert Stwertka, (Oxford University Press; 1998) ISBN 0-19-508083-1.

External links

• Los Alamos National Laboratory - Curium
• It's Elemental – Curium
• Human Health Fact Sheet on Curium
• WebElements.com – Curium
• NLM Hazardous Substances Databank – Curium, Radioactive