Heavy Element and Nuclear Chemistry at LBNL

The chemical study of the transactinide elements is of interest due to the effect that relativistic effects might have on the chemical properties of these elements. These effects are most pronounced in the heaviest elements, making the transactinide elements the most promising candidates for their study. Current research involves studying the complexation behavior of the group 5 elements in solution. In specific, my research is involved in studying the extraction of group 5 elements into crown ether and phosphite complexes. In the future, this work will be used to study the complexation behavior of pre-separated dubnium (element 105), using one of a variety of nuclear reactions.