Uranium-241

Properties and data of the isotope ²⁴¹U.

Contents

Uranium-241 is a radioisotope of the chemical element uranium, which has 149 neutrons in the atomic nucleus in addition to the element-specific 92 protons, from which the mass number says 241. The very short-lived, only artificially producible, unstable and therefore radioactive nuclide has no practical significance; dealing with ²⁴¹U is for academic purposes only.

The neutron-rich uranium nuclide was first reported in 2023 [1]; a research group from Korea succeeded in synthesizing it in an experimental setup with multinucleon transfer reactions (MNT) between uranium-238 and platinum-198:

¹⁹⁸Pt(²³⁸U,X)²⁴¹U.

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

General data

Name of the isotope:Uranium-241; U-241Symbol:²⁴¹U or 24192UMass number A:241 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:92 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:149Nucleon pairing (Z - N):even - oddNuclear ratio (N/Z ratio):1.6195652173913 (= neutron-proton ratio)Neutron excess (N-Z):57Isotopic mass:241.06033(21) u (atomic weight of Uranium-241)Nuclide mass:241.0098673 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:56.19703 MeVMass defect:1.950645428 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:1817.01451231 MeV (per nucleus)
7.5394793 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 4.590(196) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 8.102(280) MeV (first proton)Half-life:ca. 40 minDecay constant λ:0.00028881132523331 s^-1Specific activity α:7.216856773858 × 10⁺¹⁷ Bq g^-1
19505018.307727 Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)7/2+Year of discovery:2022

Radioactive Decay

The half-life of uranium-241 has not yet been experimentally determined. The value given here is based on theoretical predictions and is no more than a preliminary trend.

Half-life T_½ = ca. 40 min (minutes) respectively 2.4 × 10³ seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy	γ energy (intensity)
β^-	²⁴¹Np	100 %	1.88(22) MeV

Production and radioactive decay of the artificial radioactive isotope Uranium-241

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 149) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 241) with Uranium-241. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 149	Isobar A = 241
91	²⁴⁰Pa
92	²⁴¹U	²⁴¹U
93	²⁴²Np	²⁴¹Np
94	²⁴³Pu	²⁴¹Pu
95	²⁴⁴Am	²⁴¹Am
96	²⁴⁵Cm	²⁴¹Cm
97	²⁴⁶Bk	²⁴¹Bk
98	²⁴⁷Cf	²⁴¹Cf
99	²⁴⁸Es	²⁴¹Es
100	²⁴⁹Fm	²⁴¹Fm
101	²⁵⁰Md
102	²⁵¹No
103	²⁵²Lr
104	²⁵³Rf