Polonium

Polonium: the essentials

 Brief description: polonium has more isotopes than any other element, all of which are radioactive. Polonium dissolves readily in dilute acids, but is only slightly soluble in alkalis.

Weight for weight it is about 2.5 x 10¹¹ times as toxic as hydrocyanic acid (HCN). Polonium has been found in tobacco as a contaminant and in uranium ores.

Image adapted with permission from Prof James Marshall's (U. North Texas, USA) Walking Tour of the elements CD.

Isolation

Isolation: polonium is radioactive and excessivley rare in nature. It is made in very small qunatities through a nuclear reaction of bismuth. Neutron irradiation of ²⁰⁹bismuth (atomic number 83) gives ²¹⁰polonium (atomic number 84).

²⁰⁹Bi + ¹n → ²¹⁰Po + e^-

Metallic polonium can be fractionally distilled from the bismuth or electrodeposited onto a metal surface such as silver.

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