Actinium - Properties

Properties

Actinium is a soft, silvery-white, radioactive, metallic element. Its estimated shear modulus is similar to that of lead. Owing to its strong radioactivity, actinium glows in the dark with a pale blue light, which originates from the surrounding air ionized by the emitted energetic particles. Actinium has similar chemical properties as lanthanum and other lanthanides, and therefore these elements are difficult to separate when extracting from uranium ores. Solvent extraction and ion chromatography are commonly used for the separation.

The first element of the actinides, actinium gave the group its name, much as lanthanum had done for the lanthanides. The group of elements is more diverse than the lanthanides and therefore it was not until 1945 that Glenn T. Seaborg proposed the most significant change to Mendeleev's periodic table, by introducing the actinides.

Actinium reacts rapidly with oxygen and moisture in air forming a white coating of actinium oxide that prevents further oxidation. As with most lanthanides and actinides, actinium exists in the oxidation state +3, and the Ac3+ ions are colorless in solutions. The oxidation state +3 originates from the 6d17s2 electronic configuration of actinium, that is it easily donates 3 electrons assuming a stable closed-shell structure of the noble gas radon. The oxidation state +2 is only known for actinium dihydride (AcH₂).