Americium

This element was in fact discovered after curium, the element which follows it in the periodic table. However, it did
once exist on Earth having been produced for millions of years in natural nuclear reactors in Oklo, Gabon. These
ceased to function a billion years ago, and as the longest lived isotope is americium-247, with a half-life of 7370
years, none has survived to the present day. Americium was first made late in 1944 at the University of Chicago by a
team which included Glenn Seaborg, Ralph James, Leon Morgan, and Albert Ghiorso. The americium was produced
by bombarding plutonium with neutrons in a nuclear reactor. This produced isotope americium-241, which has a half-
life of this is 432 years.

Image explanation

The image reflects both the origin of the element’s name and its presence in domestic smoke alarms.

Appearance

Americium is a silvery, shiny radioactive metal.

Uses

Americium is commonly used in smoke alarms, but has few other uses.

It has the potential to be used in spacecraft batteries in the future. Currently plutonium is used but availability is poor
so alternatives are being considered.

It is of interest as part of the decay sequence that occurs in nuclear power production.

Biological role

Americium has no known biological role. It is toxic due to its radioactivity.

Natural abundance

Americium occurs naturally in uranium minerals, but only in trace amounts. The main source of the element is the
neutron bombardment of plutonium in nuclear reactors. A few grams are produced in this way each year.

It is also formed when nuclear weapons are detonated.

Discovery date 1944

Discovered by Glenn Seaborg and colleagues

Origin of the
Americium is named for America where it was first made.
name

The two major types of household smoke detectors are ionization smoke detectors and optical
smoke detectors. Most common household ionization smoke detectors use Americium-241 in the
form of Americium Dioxide as its source of the ionizing radiation that the smoke detector needs to
work. Ionization radiation is any particle or electromagnetic wave that has sufficient energy to ionize
electrons (remove them from an atom).
Americium-241 is used in ionization smoke detectors to ionize air. In the event of a fire, a difference
as a result of the smoke is detected and an alarm goes off to let people know that there is a danger.
Americium-241 is preferred over other chemical species for use in ionization smoke detectors
because it provides ideal air ionization and relatively little harmful gamma radiation.
There are advantages to using ionization smoke detectors instead of the alternative optical smoke
detectors. The ionization smoke detector is less expensive and can detect particles which are too
small for optical smoke detectors to detect. A major disadvantage of ionization smoke detectors is
that they are more prone to false alarms than optical smoke detectors.