Discovery, nuclear properties, synthesis and applications of technetium-101

• Published in: Communications chemistry Vol. 5; no. 1; pp. 131 - 16
• Main Authors: Johnstone, Erik V., Mayordomo, Natalia, Mausolf, Edward J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 20-10-2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/4077/4091/4092; 639/4077/4091/4093; 639/638/263; 639/638/903; Arrays; Chemical separation; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chemistry/Food Science; Half-life; Isotopes; Medical research; Nuclear fuels; Nuclear medicine; Nuclear properties; Nuclear reactors; Physical properties; Radiochemistry; Radioisotopes; Review; Review Article; Synthesis; Technetium; Technetium isotopes
• ISSN: 2399-3669; 2399-3669
• DOI: 10.1038/s42004-022-00746-9

Technetium-101 (
101
Tc) has been poorly studied in comparison with other Tc isotopes, although it was first identified over ~80 years ago shortly after the discovery of the element Tc itself. Its workable half-life and array of production modes, i.e., light/heavy particle reactions, fission, fusion-evaporation, etc., allow it to be produced and isolated using an equally diverse selection of chemical separation pathways. The inherent nuclear properties of
101
Tc make it important for research and applications related to radioanalytical tracer studies, as a fission signature, fusion materials, fission reactor fuels, and potentially as a radioisotope for nuclear medicine. In this review, an aggregation of the known literature concerning the chemical, nuclear, and physical properties of
101
Tc and some its applications are presented. This work aims at providing an up-to-date and first-of-its-kind overview of
101
Tc that could be of importance for further development of the fundamental and applied nuclear and radiochemistry of
101
Tc.
101
Tc is a lesser studied technetium isotope, but its unique nuclear properties and varying routes of production make it interesting for an array of applications where its shorter half-life can be exploited. Here, the authors review the discovery, nuclear properties, synthesis and separation, as well as applications of
101
Tc, and point towards future research directions.