Rutherfordium-252

Properties and data of the isotope ²⁵²Rf.

Contents

Rutherfordium-252 is a radioisotope of the chemical element rutherfordium, which has 148 neutrons in its atomic nucleus in addition to the element-specific 104 protons; the sum of the number of these atomic nucleus building blocks results in a mass number of 252. The very short-lived, only artificially produced, unstable and thus radioactive nuclide has no practical significance; the study of ²⁵²Rf is exclusively for academic purposes.

The discovery of the nuclide was reported in 2025; according to this report, rutherfordium-252 was observed as a product of the nuclear reaction ²⁰⁴Pb(⁵⁰Ti,2n). The half-life was given in the corresponding publication as 60+90-30 ns.

See also: List of individual Rutherfordium isotopes (and general data sources).

General data

Name of the isotope:Rutherfordium-252; Rf-252Symbol:²⁵²Rf or 252104RfMass number A:252 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:104 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:148Isotopic mass:252 u (atomic weight of Rutherfordium-252)Nuclide mass:251.9429566 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:0 MeVMass defect:2.096210896 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:1952.60787236 MeV (per nucleus)
7.74844394 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Half-life:60 nsDecay constant λ:11552453.009332 s^-1Specific activity α:2.760734099206 × 10⁺²⁸ Bq g^-1
7.461443511368 × 10⁺¹⁷ Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)0+Year of discovery:2024

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 60 ns respectively 6 × 10^-8 seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy	γ energy (intensity)
SZ		div

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 148) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 252) with Rutherfordium-252. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 148	Isobar A = 252
90	²³⁸Th
91	²³⁹Pa
92	²⁴⁰U
93	²⁴¹Np
94	²⁴²Pu
95	²⁴³Am
96	²⁴⁴Cm	²⁵²Cm
97	²⁴⁵Bk	²⁵²Bk
98	²⁴⁶Cf	²⁵²Cf
99	²⁴⁷Es	²⁵²Es
100	²⁴⁸Fm	²⁵²Fm
101	²⁴⁹Md	²⁵²Md
102	²⁵⁰No	²⁵²No
103	²⁵¹Lr	²⁵²Lr
104	²⁵²Rf	²⁵²Rf

Literature and References

[1] - J. Khuyagbaatar, P. Mosat, J. Ballof et al.:
Stepping into the Sea of Instability: The New Sub-μs Superheavy Nucleus ²⁵²Rf.
In: Physical Review Letters, 134, 022501, (2025), DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.022501.