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Isotopes of technetium


Technetium (abbreviation Tc, atomic number 43) is the first of the two elements lighter than bismuth that have no non-radioactive isotopes; the other such element is promethium. It is primarily artificial, only trace quantities existing in nature produced by spontaneous fission or neutron capture by molybdenum. The first isotopes to be synthesized were 97Tc and 99Tc in 1936, the first artificial element to be produced. The most stable radioisotopes are 98Tc (half-life of 4.2 million years), 97Tc (half-life: 2.6 million years) and 99Tc (half-life: 211,100 years).

Thirty-three other radioisotopes have been characterized with atomic masses ranging from 85Tc to 120Tc. Most of these have half-lives that are less than an hour; the exceptions are 93Tc (half-life: 2.75 hours), 94Tc (half-life: 4.883 hours), 95Tc (half-life: 20 hours), and 96Tc (half-life: 4.28 days).

Technetium also has numerous meta states. 97mTc is the most stable, with a half-life of 90.1 days (0.097 MeV). This is followed by 95mTc (half-life: 61 days, 0.038 MeV), and 99mTc (half-life: 6.01 hours, 0.143 MeV). 99mTc only emits gamma rays, subsequently decaying to 99Tc.

For isotopes lighter than the most stable isotope, 98Tc, the primary decay mode is electron capture, giving molybdenum. For the heavier isotopes, the primary mode is beta emission, giving ruthenium, with the exception that 100Tc can decay both by beta emission and electron capture.


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