Physico-chemical characterization of seaborgium as oxide hydroxide

Seaborgium (Sg; element 106) was studied in comparison with tungsten in the O2-H2O(g)/SiO2(s)-system using high temperature on-line isothermal gas chromatography. The 21-s nuclide266Sg was produced in the248Cm+22Ne reaction at a beam energy of 119 MeV. The reaction products were continuously transported by a He(MoO3)-jet to the chromatography apparatus HITGAS. Group 6 element oxide hydroxide molecules volatile at temperatures above 1000 K were formed at 1325 K by adding humid oxygen as reactive gas.266Sg was unambiguously detected after gas chromatographic separation by measuring266Sg-262Rf mother-daughter α-sf correlations. The experimental results demonstrate the volatility of Sg in humid oxygen, presumably as Sg oxide hydroxide, a behavior typical for both U(VI) and the group 6 elements.