
Curium is a chemical element with the symbol Cm and atomic number 96. A radioactive metallic transuranic element of the actinide series, curium was named after Marie Skłodowska-Curie and her husband Pierre.
There are few commercial applications for curium but it may one day be useful in radioisotope thermoelectric generators. Curium bio-accumulates in bone tissue where its radiation destroys bone marrow and thus stops red blood cell creation.
Characteristics[]
A rare earth homolog, curium is somewhat chemically similar to Gadollinium but with a more complex crystal structure. Chemically reactive, its metal is silvery-white in color and the element is more electropositive than aluminium (most trivalent curium compounds are slightly yellow).
Curium has been studied greatly as a potential fuel for radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG). Curium-242 can generate up to 120 watts of thermal energy per gram (W/g); however, its very short half-life makes it undesirable as a power source for long-term use. Curium-242 can decay by alpha emission to plutonium-238 which is the most common fuel for RTGs. Curium-244 has also been studied as an energy source for RTGs having a maximum energy density ~3 W/g, but produces a large amount of neutron radiation from spontaneous fission. Curium-243 with a ~30 year half-life and good energy density of ~1.6 W/g would seem to make an ideal fuel, but it produces significant amounts of gamma and beta radiation from radioactive decay products.
Value[]
The base value of each unit of ranges between 35 and 80Ð per unit, with up to 3 units being found at any one time.
Presence on Mars: Rare
Martian Minerals | |
Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Group 5 | Group 6 | |
Group 5 | |Americium | Anthraximite | Areanetium Dieinsteinium | Areanetium Ferrocrete | Areanetium Mendelite | Berkelium | Bohrium | |Californium | Curium | Darmstadtium | Einsteinium | Fermium | Fermium Hasside | Ferro-plat Alloy | Hassium | Lawrencium | |Meitnerium | Meitnerium Golgathide | Mendelevium | Neptunium | Nobelium | Plutonium | Roentgenium | Seaborgium | |Transuranic Alloblast | |