Bismuth is a chemical element with symbolBi and atomic number83. Bismuth, a pentavalentpost-transition metal, chemically resembles arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth may occur naturally, although its sulfide and oxide form important commercial ores. The free element is 86% as dense as lead. It is a brittle metal with a silvery white color when freshly produced, but is often seen in air with a pink tinge owing to surface oxidation. Bismuth is the most naturally diamagnetic element, and has one of the lowest values of thermal conductivity among metals.
Bismuth metal has been known since ancient times, although until the 18th century it was often confused with lead and tin, which share some physical properties. The etymology is uncertain, but possibly comes from Arabic bi ismid, meaning having the properties of antimony or German words weisse masse or wismuth ("white mass"), translated in the mid-sixteenth century to New Latinbisemutum.
Bismuth (Bi) has no stableisotope, but does have one very long-lived isotope; thus, the relative atomic mass can be given as 208.9803987(16). Although bismuth-209 is now known to be unstable, it has classically been considered to be a "stable" isotope because it has a half-life of over 1.9×1019 years, which is more than a billion (1000 million) times the age of the universe. Besides 209Bi, the most stable bismuth radioisotopes are 210mBi with a half-life of 3.04 million years, 208Bi with a half-life of 368,000 years and 207Bi, with a half-life of 32.9 years, none of which occur in nature. All other isotopes have half-lives under 1 year, most under a day. Of naturally occurring radioisotopes, the most stable is radiogenic210Bi with a half-life of 5.012 days.
Commercially the radioactive isotope bismuth-213 can be produced by bombarding radium with bremsstrahlung photons from a linear particle accelerator. In 1997 an antibody conjugate with Bi-213, which has a 45-minute half-life, and decays with the emission of an alpha-particle, was used to treat patients with leukemia. This isotope has also been tried in cancer treatment, e.g. in the Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT) program. Bismuth-213 is also found on the decay chain of uranium-233.
Bismuth-209 is the "virtually stable" isotope of bismuth with the longest half-life of any radioisotope that undergoes α-decay (alpha decay). It has 83 protons and 126 neutrons, and an atomic mass of 208.9803987 amu (atomic mass units). All primordial bismuth is of this isotope. It is a β−product of lead-209.
Stability
Bismuth-209 was long thought to have the heaviest stable nucleus of any element, but in 2003, Noël Coron and his colleagues at the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale in Orsay, France, discovered that 209Bi undergoes alpha decay with a half-life of approximately 600 yottaseconds (1.9×1019 years), over a billion times longer than the current estimated age of the universe. Theory had previously predicted a half-life of 4.6×1019 years. The decay event produces a 3.14 MeV alpha particle and converts the atom to thallium-205. Bismuth-209 can undergo alpha decay and is produced as part of the decay of Americium-241 (241Am):
Due to its extraordinarily long half-life, for nearly all applications 209Bi can still be treated as if it were non-radioactive. Although 209Bi holds the half-life record for alpha decay, bismuth does not have the longest half-life of any radionuclide to be found experimentally—this distinction belongs to Tellurium-128 (128Te) with a half-life estimated at 7.7 x 1024 years by double β-decay (beta decay).
Silver bismuth sulfide (AgBiS2) nanocrystals (NCs) are an earth-abundant material that has been used in recent years as a promising PV material, often in combination with cadmium sulfide in the development of several kinds of ultra-thin solar cells.
The man has a cheek ...Nasty memories were being kept alive ... The second, sponsored by Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, would critically prevent the agency from operating in Israeli territory through revoking a 1967 exchange of notes justifying such activities ... .
MK Boaz Bismut commented on Sunday evening on Hezbollah's murderous attack on Majdal Shams and made it clear that Israel must respond with a heavy blow ....
MK Boaz Bismut commented on Sunday evening on Hezbollah’s murderous attack on Majdal Shams and made it clear that Israel must respond with a heavy blow.� | Read More�News from Israel ....
Dublin, July 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Bismuth MarketReport... The global bismuth market is expected to grow with a CAGR of 4.8% from 2024 to 2030. The future of the global bismuth market looks ...
(MENAFN - GlobeNewsWire - Nasdaq) Dublin, July 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Bismuth - Global Strategic BusinessReport" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.The global ... .
(MENAFN - GlobeNewsWire - Nasdaq) The Global Bismuth Market Size was Valued at USD 434.2 Million in 2023 and the Worldwide Bismuth Market Size is Expected to Reach USD 735.2 Million by 2033, ... .
MK Boaz Bismuth spoke with Arutz Sheva about his upcoming trip to the US and explained why the war is longer than past wars.� | Read More�News from Israel....
Companies can't simply walk away from old oil and gas wells. They have to be capped in a way that protects the environment and prevents leaks. A new approach to today's solution could be better for the environment and cheaper, too ... .
