Technetium 43 Tc [98]   Switch element to... actinium aluminium aluminum americium antimony argon arsenic astatine barium berkelium beryllium bismuth bohrium boron bromine cadmium caesium calcium californium carbon cerium cesium chlorine chromium cobalt copper curium darmstadtium dubnium dysprosium einsteinium erbium europium fermium fluorine francium gadolinium gallium germanium gold hafnium hassium helium holmium hydrogen indium iodine iridium iron krypton lanthanum lawrencium lead lithium lutetium magnesium manganese meitnerium mendelevium mercury molybdenum neodymium neon neptunium nickel niobium nitrogen nobelium osmium oxygen palladium phosphorus platinum plutonium polonium potassium praseodymium promethium protactinium radium radon rhenium rhodium roentgenium rubidium ruthenium rutherfordium samarium scandium seaborgium selenium silicon silver sodium strontium sulfur sulphur tantalum technetium tellurium terbium thallium thorium thulium tin titanium tungsten ununbium ununhexium ununoctium ununpentium ununquadium ununtrium uranium vanadium xenon ytterbium yttrium zinc zirconium Go adjacent... Cr Mn Fe Mo Tc Ru W Re Os

The essentials

Description 

Here is a brief description of technetium.

• Standard state: solid at 298 K
• Colour: silvery grey metallic
• Classification: Metallic
• Availability:

There is a thin plating of technetium-99 on this disk and this radioactive sample gives about 200 counts per minute. Image adapted with permission from Prof James Marshall's (U. North Texas, USA) Walking Tour of the elements CD.

Since its discovery, searches for the element technetium in terrestrial materials have been made without success. Technetium has been found in the spectrum of S-, M-, and N-type stars, and its presence in stellar matter is leading to new theories of the production of heavy elements in the stars.

Technetium is a silvery-grey metal that tarnishes slowly in moist air. Until 1960, technetium was available only in small amounts. The chemistry of technetium is related to that of rhenium.

Isolation

It is never necessary to make a sample of techntium anywhere other than specialist laboratories. This is because technetium is radioactive. Technetium is a byproduct of the nuclear industry and is a product of uranium decay. Alternatively it can be made by the bombardment of molydenum targets with deuterium nuclei.

Because of the scale of the nuclear industry it is possible to make quite large quantities of technetium (kilograms). The metal itself may be made by the reaction of the sulphide Tc₂S₇ with hydrogen at 1100°C or of the pertechnate NH₄TcO₄ with hydrogen.

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