Isotopes of thorium

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Actinides and fission products by half-life
Actinides[1] by decay chain Half-life
range (a) 		Fission products of 235U by yield[2]
4n 4n + 1 4n + 2 4n + 3 4.5–7% 0.04–1.25% <0.001%
228Ra№ 4–6 a 155Euþ
244Cmƒ 241Puƒ 250Cf 227Ac№ 10–29 a 90Sr 85Kr 113mCdþ
232Uƒ 238Puƒ 243Cmƒ 29–97 a 137Cs 151Smþ 121mSn
248Bk[3] 249Cfƒ 242mAmƒ 141–351 a

No fission products have a half-life
in the range of 100 a–210 ka ...

241Amƒ 251Cfƒ[4] 430–900 a
226Ra№ 247Bk 1.3–1.6 ka
240Pu 229Th 246Cmƒ 243Amƒ 4.7–7.4 ka
245Cmƒ 250Cm 8.3–8.5 ka
239Puƒ 24.1 ka
230Th№ 231Pa№ 32–76 ka
236Npƒ 233Uƒ 234U№ 150–250 ka 99Tc₡ 126Sn
248Cm 242Pu 327–375 ka 79Se₡
1.53 Ma 93Zr
237Npƒ 2.1–6.5 Ma 135Cs₡ 107Pd
236U 247Cmƒ 15–24 Ma 129I₡
244Pu 80 Ma

... nor beyond 15.7 Ma[5]

232Th№ 238U№ 235Uƒ№ 0.7–14.1 Ga

Although thorium (Th) has 6 naturally occurring isotopes, none of these isotopes are stable; however, one isotope, 232Th, is relatively stable, with a half-life of 14.05 billion years, considerably longer than the age of the earth, and even slightly longer than the generally-accepted age of the universe. This isotope makes up nearly all natural thorium. As such, thorium is considered to be mononuclidic. It has a characteristic terrestrial isotopic composition and thus an atomic mass can be given.

Standard atomic mass: 232.03806(2) u

Thirty radioisotopes have been characterized, with the most stable (after 232Th) being 230Th with a half-life of 75,380 years, 229Th with a half-life of 7,340 years, and 228Th with a half-life of 1.92 years. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than thirty days and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than ten minutes. One isotope, 229Th, has a nuclear isomer (or metastable state) with a remarkably low excitation energy,[6] recently measured to be 7.6 ± 0.5 eV.[7]

The known isotopes of thorium range in mass number from 209[8] to 238.

Some notable isotopes

Thorium-228

228Th is an isotope of thorium which has 138 neutrons. It was once named Radiothorium, due to its occurrence in the disintegration chain of thorium-232. It has a half-life of 1.9116 years. It undergoes alpha decay to 224Radium. Occasionally it decays by the unusual route of cluster decay, emitting a nucleus of 20O and producing stable 208Pb. It is a daughter isotope of 232U

Th-228 has an atomic weight of 228.0287411 grams/mole. Uranium-232 decays to this nuclide by alpha emission.

Thorium-229

229Th is a radioactive isotope of thorium that decays by alpha emission with a half-life of 7340 years. 229Th is produced by the decay of uranium-233, and its principal use is for the production of the medical isotopes actinium-225 and bismuth-213.[9]

Thorium-229m

Gamma ray spectroscopy has indicated that 229Th has a nuclear isomer with a remarkably low excitation energy. This would make it the lowest-energy nuclear isomer known, and it might be possible to excite this nuclear state using lasers with wavelengths in the vacuum ultraviolet.The isomer might have application for high density energy storage,[10] an accurate clock,[11] as a qubit for quantum computing, or to test the effect of the chemical environment on nuclear decay rates.[12]

The half-life of this excited state is not known, though it is estimated at 5 hours. If this isomer were to decay it would produce a gamma ray (defined by its origin not its wavelength) in the ultraviolet range. For several years, the accepted energy of the state was 3.5 eV, with an uncertainty of 1.0 eV. [13] These "ultraviolet gamma rays" were thought to have been detected at one time, but this observation has since been found to be from nitrogen gas excited by higher energy emissions.[14]

Recent measurements of higher-energy gamma rays give 7.6 eV as the energy of the 3/2+ state, with an uncertainty of 0.5 eV.[7]

Thorium-230

230Th is a radioactive isotope of thorium which can be used to date corals and determine ocean current flux. Ionium was a name given early in the study of radioactive elements to the 230Th isotope produced in the decay chain of 238U before it was realized that ionium and thorium are chemically identical. The symbol Io was used for this supposed element.

Thorium-231

231Th has 141 neutrons. It is the decay product of uranium-235. It is found in very small amounts on the earth and has a half-life of 25.5 hours. When it decays it emits a beta ray and forms protactinium-231. It has a decay energy of 0.39 MeV. It has a mass of 231.0363043 grams/mole.

Thorium-232

As Thorium is mononuclidic, the main article on thorium effectively discusses this isotope.

232Th is the only primordial isotope of thorium and makes up effectively all of natural thorium, with other isotopes of thorium appearing only in trace amounts as relatively short-lived decay products of uranium and thorium.[15]

232Th decays by alpha decay with a half-life of 1.405×1010 years, over three times the age of the earth. Its decay chain is the thorium series eventually ending in lead-208. The remainder of the chain is quick; the longest half-lives in it are 5.75 years for radium-228 and 1.91 years for thorium-228, with all other half-lives totaling less than 5 days.[16]

232Th is a fertile material able to absorb a neutron and undergo transmutation into the fissile nuclide uranium-233, which is the basis of the thorium fuel cycle.[17]

In the form of Thorotrast, a thorium dioxide suspension, it was used as contrast medium in early X-ray diagnostics. Thorium-232 is now classified as carcinogenic.[18]

Thorium-233

233Th is an isotope of thorium that decays into protactinium-233 through beta decay. It has a half-life of 21.83 minutes.[19]

Thorium-234

234Th is an isotope of thorium whose nuclei contain 144 neutrons. Th-234 has a half-life of about 24.1 days, and when it decays, it emits a beta particle, and in so doing, it transmutes into protactinium-234. Th-234 has a mass of about 234.0436 atomic mass units (amu), and it has a decay energy of about 270 KeV (kiloelectron-volts). Uranium-238 usually decays into this isotope of thorium. (It can undergo spontaneous fission.)

Table

nuclide
symbol 		historic
name 		Z(p) N(n)  
isotopic mass (u)
  		half-life[n 1] decay
mode(s)[20][n 2] 		daughter
isotopes(s)[n 3] 		nuclear
spin 		representative
isotopic
composition
(mole fraction) 		range of natural
variation
(mole fraction)
excitation energy
209Th 90 119 209.01772(11) 7(5) ms
[3.8(+69-15)] 		5/2-#
210Th 90 120 210.015075(27) 17(11) ms
[9(+17-4) ms] 		α 206Ra 0+
β+ (rare) 210Ac
211Th 90 121 211.01493(8) 48(20) ms
[0.04(+3-1) s] 		α 207Ra 5/2-#
β+ (rare) 211Ac
212Th 90 122 212.01298(2) 36(15) ms
[30(+20-10) ms] 		α (99.7%) 208Ra 0+
β+ (.3%) 212Ac
213Th 90 123 213.01301(8) 140(25) ms α 209Ra 5/2-#
β+ (rare) 213Ac
214Th 90 124 214.011500(18) 100(25) ms α 210Ra 0+
215Th 90 125 215.011730(29) 1.2(2) s α 211Ra (1/2-)
216Th 90 126 216.011062(14) 26.8(3) ms α (99.99%) 212Ra 0+
β+ (.006%) 216Ac
216m1Th 2042(13) keV 137(4) µs (8+)
216m2Th 2637(20) keV 615(55) ns (11-)
217Th 90 127 217.013114(22) 240(5) µs α 213Ra (9/2+)
218Th 90 128 218.013284(14) 109(13) ns α 214Ra 0+
219Th 90 129 219.01554(5) 1.05(3) µs α 215Ra 9/2+#
β+ (10−7%) 219Ac
220Th 90 130 220.015748(24) 9.7(6) µs α 216Ra 0+
EC (2×10−7%) 220Ac
221Th 90 131 221.018184(10) 1.73(3) ms α 217Ra (7/2+)
222Th 90 132 222.018468(13) 2.237(13) ms α 218Ra 0+
EC (1.3×10−8%) 222Ac
223Th 90 133 223.020811(10) 0.60(2) s α 219Ra (5/2)+
224Th 90 134 224.021467(12) 1.05(2) s α 220Ra 0+
β+β+ (rare) 224Ra
225Th 90 135 225.023951(5) 8.72(4) min α (90%) 221Ra (3/2)+
EC (10%) 225Ac
226Th 90 136 226.024903(5) 30.57(10) min α 222Ra 0+
227Th Radioactinium 90 137 227.0277041(27) 18.68(9) d α 223Ra 1/2+ Trace[n 4]
228Th Radiothorium 90 138 228.0287411(24) 1.9116(16) a α 224Ra 0+ Trace[n 5]
CD (1.3×10−11%) 208Pb
20O
229Th 90 139 229.031762(3) 7.34(16)×103 a α 225Ra 5/2+
229mTh 0.0076(5) keV 70(50) h IT 229Th 3/2+
230Th[n 6] Ionium 90 140 230.0331338(19) 7.538(30)×104 a α 226Ra 0+ Trace[n 7]
CD (5.6×10−11%) 206Hg
24Ne
SF (5×10−11%) (Various)
231Th Uranium Y 90 141 231.0363043(19) 25.52(1) h β- 231Pa 5/2+ Trace[n 4]
α (10−8%) 227Ra
232Th[n 8] Thorium 90 142 232.0380553(21) 1.405(6)×1010 a α 228Ra 0+ 1.0000
β-β- (rare) 232U
SF (1.1×10−9%) (various)
CD (2.78×10−10%) 182Yb
26Ne
24Ne
233Th 90 143 233.0415818(21) 21.83(4) min β- 233Pa 1/2+
234Th Uranium X1 90 144 234.043601(4) 24.10(3) d β- 234mPa 0+ Trace[n 7]
235Th 90 145 235.04751(5) 7.2(1) min β- 235Pa (1/2+)#
236Th 90 146 236.04987(21)# 37.5(2) min β- 236Pa 0+
237Th 90 147 237.05389(39)# 4.8(5) min β- 237Pa 5/2+#
238Th 90 148 238.0565(3)# 9.4(20) min β- 238Pa 0+
  1. ^ Bold for nuclides with half-lives longer than the age of the universe (nearly stable)
  2. ^ Abbreviations:
    CD: Cluster decay
    EC: Electron capture
    IT: Isomeric transition
    SF: Spontaneous fission
  3. ^ Bold for stable isotopes
  4. ^ a b Intermediate decay product of 235U
  5. ^ Intermediate decay product of 232Th
  6. ^ Used in Uranium-thorium dating
  7. ^ a b Intermediate decay product of 238U
  8. ^ Primordial radionuclide

Notes

  • Geologically exceptional samples are known in which the isotopic composition lies outside the reported range. The uncertainty in the atomic mass may exceed the stated value for such specimens.
  • Values marked # are not purely derived from experimental data, but at least partly from systematic trends. Spins with weak assignment arguments are enclosed in parentheses.
  • Uncertainties are given in concise form in parentheses after the corresponding last digits. Uncertainty values denote one standard deviation, except isotopic composition and standard atomic mass from IUPAC which use expanded uncertainties.

References

  1. ^ Plus radium (element 88). While actually a sub-actinide, it immediately precedes actinium (89) and follows a three-element gap of instability after polonium (84) where no nuclides have half-lives of at least four years (the longest-lived nuclide in the gap is radon-222 with a half life of less than four days). Radium's longest lived isotope, at 1,600 years, thus merits the element's inclusion here.
  2. ^ Specifically from thermal neutron fission of uranium-235, e.g. in a typical nuclear reactor.
  3. ^ Milsted, J.; Friedman, A. M.; Stevens, C. M. (1965). "The alpha half-life of berkelium-247; a new long-lived isomer of berkelium-248". Nuclear Physics. 71 (2): 299. Bibcode:1965NucPh..71..299M. doi:10.1016/0029-5582(65)90719-4.
    "The isotopic analyses disclosed a species of mass 248 in constant abundance in three samples analysed over a period of about 10 months. This was ascribed to an isomer of Bk248 with a half-life greater than 9 [years]. No growth of Cf248 was detected, and a lower limit for the β− half-life can be set at about 104 [years]. No alpha activity attributable to the new isomer has been detected; the alpha half-life is probably greater than 300 [years]."
  4. ^ This is the heaviest nuclide with a half-life of at least four years before the "sea of instability".
  5. ^ Excluding those "classically stable" nuclides with half-lives significantly in excess of 232Th; e.g., while 113mCd has a half-life of only fourteen years, that of 113Cd is eight quadrillion years.
  6. ^ E. Ruchowska; et al. (2006). "Nuclear structure of 229Th". Phys. Rev. C. 73 (4): 044326. Bibcode:2006PhRvC..73d4326R. doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.73.044326. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)
  7. ^ a b B. R. Beck; et al. (2007-04-06). "Energy splitting in the ground state doublet in the nucleus 229Th". Physical Review Letters. 98 (14): 142501. Bibcode:2007PhRvL..98n2501B. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.142501. PMID 17501268. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)
  8. ^ H. Ikezoe; et al. (1996). "alpha decay of a new isotope of 209Th". Physical Review C. 54 (4): 2043. Bibcode:1996PhRvC..54.2043I. doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.54.2043. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)
  9. ^ Report to Congress on the extraction of medical isotopes from U-233. U.S. Department of Energy. March 2001
  10. ^ Poppe, C. H.; Weiss, M. S.; Anderson, J. D. (1992). "Nuclear isomers as ultra-high-energy-density materials". Air Force Meeting on High Energy Density Materials, Lancaster, CA. Bibcode:1992hedm.meet...23P. {{cite conference}}: Unknown parameter |booktitle= ignored (|book-title= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ E. Peik and C. Tamm (2003-01-15). "Nuclear laser spectroscopy of the 3.5 eV transition in 229Th". Europhysics Letters. 61 (2): 181–186. Bibcode:2003EL.....61..181P. doi:10.1209/epl/i2003-00210-x.
  12. ^ Tkalya, Eugene V.; Zherikhin, Alexander N. ;Zhudov, Valerii I. (2000). "Decay of the low-energy nuclear isomer 229Thm (3/2+, 3.5 +-1.0-eV) in solids (dielectrics and metals): A new scheme of experimental research". Physical Review C. 61 (6): 064308. Bibcode:2000PhRvC..61f4308T. doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.61.064308.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Helmer, R. G.; Reich, C. W. (1994). "An Excited State of Th-229 at 3.5 eV". Physical Review C. 49 (4): 1845–1858. Bibcode:1994PhRvC..49.1845H. doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.49.1845.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Shaw, R. W.; Young, J. P.; Cooper, S. P.; Webb, O. F. (1999). "Spontaneous Ultraviolet Emission from 233Uranium/229Thorium Samples". Physical Review Letters. 82 (6): 1109–1111. Bibcode:1999PhRvL..82.1109S. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.1109.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Isotopes Project Home Page, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. "Isotopes of Thorium (Z=90)". Retrieved 2010-01-18. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  16. ^ Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. "Th-232 Decay Chain". Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  17. ^ World Nuclear Association. "Thorium". Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  18. ^ Krasinskas, Alyssa M; Minda, Justina; Saul, Scott H; Shaked, Abraham; Furth, Emma E (2004). "Redistribution of thorotrast into a liver allograft several years following transplantation: a case report". Nature. 17 (1): 117–120. doi:10.1038/modpathol.3800008. PMID 14631374.
  19. ^ Georges, Audi (2003). "The NUBASE Evaluation of Nuclear and Decay Properties". Nuclear Physics A. 729. Atomic Mass Data Center: 3–128. Bibcode:2003NuPhA.729....3A. doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2003.11.001.
  20. ^ http://www.nucleonica.net/unc.aspx
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