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Boron-10

Properties and data of the isotope 10B.


Contents

 

Boron-10 isotope

Boron-10 is one of the two isotopes that make up natural boron deposits. The atomic nucleus consists of 5 neutrons and the element-specific 5 protons.

The stable nuclide has a very high capture cross section (3837 barns) for low-energy thermal neutrons (< 0.5 MeV). After neutron capture, the 10B nucleus turns into an excited boron-11 nucleus (11B*; t1/2 = 10-12 s), which immediately decays to Lithium-7 and an α-particle (helium-4):

10B + 0n → 11B* → 4He + 7Li + 2.31 MeV.

Due to this property, the stable 10B isotope is used in enriched form, for example in boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) for the experimental treatment of some brain tumors. The emitted radiation has the special feature that it releases a relatively high energy over its very short path (< 10 μm; comparable to the diameter of a cell) [2].

In nuclear technology, boron-10 is used as an absorption material in control rods for nuclear reactors.

See also: list of Boron isotopes.

 

General data

Name of the isotope:Boron-10; B-10Symbol:10B or 105BMass number A:10 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:5 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:5Isotopic mass:10.012937(3) u (atomic weight of Boron-10)Nuclide mass:10.0101941 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:12.05074 MeVMass defect:0.069512739999999 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:64.75070023 MeV (per nucleus)
6.47507002 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)
Separation energy:SN = 8.4372(9) MeV (first neutron)
SP = 6.58681(8) MeV (first proton)
Half-life:stableSpin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)
3+Isobaric spin: 0Magnetic dipole moment:μ(μN) = 1.8004636(8)Charge radius:2.4277(499) femtometer fmYear of discovery:1920

 

Parent Nuclides

Direct parent isotopes are: 10Be, 10C.

 

Occurrence

Comparison of the natural Boron isotopes including isotopic abundance (mole fraction of the isotope mixture in percent):

 

Atomic Mass maQuantityHalf-lifeSpin
Boron
Isotopic mixture
10.81 u100 %
Isotope 10B10.012937(3) u19.65 %
[18.9 - 20.4 %]
stable3+
Isotope 11B11.009305(3) u80.35 %
[79.6 - 81.1 %]
stable3/2-

 

NMR data

Nuclear magnetic properties of the NMR active Nuclide 10B

Isotope:10B-NMRQuantity:19.65 % [18.9 - 20.4 %]Spin:3+Nuclearmagnetic moment
μ/μN:
1.8004636(8)Gyromagnetic ratio γ:2.875 · 107 rad T-1 s-1Nuclear g-factor:gl = 0.60015453333333Quadrupole moment Q:+0.0846(2) barn (100 fm2)Line width parameter (factor):l = 14.31 fm4Resonance frequency:v0 = 4.5752 at 1 TFrequency ratio:Ξ(10B) = 10.743(658) % %Relative Sensitivity:0.01985 (H0 = const.)
1.7193 (v0 = const.)
[related to 1H = 1.000]
Reference compound:
(conditions)
Boron trifluoride etherate BF3 × OEt2 in chloroform-d as solvent.

Both naturally occurring boron isotopes are NMR active and quadrupolar. However, 10B NMR spectroscopy is rarely used. The 10B nucleus is less sensitive than 11B and shows broader signals in the NMR spectrum.

 

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 5) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 10) with Boron-10. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

 

ZIsotone N = 5Isobar A = 10
16H
27He10He
38Li10Li
49Be10Be
510B10B
611C10C
712N10N
813O
914F
1015Ne

 

External data and identifiers

CAS:14798-12-0InChI Key:ZOXJGFHDIHLPTG-BJUDXGSMSA-NSMILES:[10B]PubChem:ID 6337058Adopted Levels, Gammas:NuDat 10B

 

Literature and References

[1] - Shuang Song, Yujun Mu, Xiaofeng Li, Peng Bai:
Advances in boron-10 isotope separation by chemical exchange distillation.
In: Annals of Nuclear Energy, 27(1), (2010), DOI 10.1016/j.anucene.2009.10.008.

[2] - Mayya Alexandrovna Dymova et al.:
Boron neutron capture therapy: Current status and future perspectives.
In: Cancer Communications, 40(9), (2020), DOI 10.1002/cac2.12089.

[3] - A. V. Khoroshilov, P. I. Ivanov:
Boron isotope separation by extraction method: features of the phase composition and flow reflux.
In: Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2147, 012018, (2022), DOI 10.1088/1742-6596/2147/1/012018.

 


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Last update: 2024-09-25


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