Gold ranks 79th in the periodic table, and the 80th element mercury has one more proton than gold. Gold was first discovered in 194 1 year, when mercury was bombarded by neutrons, a proton in the nucleus might be bombarded, and some neutrons were captured to make gold. However, this process is costly, and the value of gold produced is far less than the cost. A similar method of bombarding other nuclei with various particles or nuclei to produce gold is not worth the candle.
The latest research published in the journal Science Progress shows that the research team elaborated on how they converted copper into "gold"-that is, bombarding copper atoms with high-energy argon plasma, thus changing the electronic structure outside copper atoms. In the process of continuous bombardment, the arrangement of electrons outside the nucleus has changed, which leads to the further decline of copper activity. In this transformation, the traditional copper atoms began to show the characteristics of precious metals such as gold (Au), silver (Ag) and platinum (Pt). Even copper converted at high temperature has the same stability as gold and is difficult to be oxidized.
In a statement issued by the China Academy of Sciences, the researchers explained that the transformed copper nanoparticles "have extremely similar catalytic performance to gold and silver". The processed copper metal does have the unique oxidation resistance and reaction inertia of gold and silver, which realizes the transformation from "turning stone into gold". Although this kind of metallic copper is essentially different from gold, it can replace those reactions that are only suitable for gold, such as some precision components in smart phones, thus greatly reducing the product cost. However, different from the results pursued by traditional alchemy, the "fake gold" transformed by this method only has some properties of gold, and it cannot completely replace the role of gold, not to mention its special position in the economic field.