Actinium

Occurrence, isolation & synthesis


Occurrence


Actinium is found naturally in uranium ores as a decay product [1]:




A tonne of uranium ore contains on average 0.2 g of actinium [1].


Isolation


Ac can be extracted by ion-exchange or solvent extraction [1].

Reduction of AcF with lithium vapour at 1100-1300 °C [2]:

AcF(s) + Li(g) Ac(s) + LiF(s)


Synthesis


Actinium can be made by the neutron bombardment of the radium isotope 226Ra [1]:




At best, Ac can only be synthesized in mg quantities [1].