Technique can characterise actinides with just a microgram of a heavy element

Chemical characterisation of rare or dangerous isotopes is now possible with as little as 1µg of material, thanks to a new technique developed by nuclear chemists.

Currently, much of the in-depth chemistry of heavy actinides is unknown, largely because they are not available in the quantities needed for a thorough investigation. This is either because of scarcity – the world’s supply might only add up to a few milligrams – the expense of obtaining the isotopes in question, their short half-lives, or a combination of all three. Although characterisation of actinides using micrograms of elements was conducted in the 1940s, further investigation has fallen out of favour due to its expense and difficulty. For example, only 10 curium complexes have been isolated and characterised since the element’s discovery in 1944.