Polonium years) can be made through the alpha, proton, or deuteron bombardment of lead or bismuth in a cyclotron. Tentatively called "radium F", polonium was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898, and was named after Marie Curie's native land of Poland (). Poland at the time was under Russian, German, and Austro-Hungarian partition, and did not exist as an independent country. It was Curie's hope that naming the element after her native land would publicize its lack of independence. Polonium may be the first element named to highlight a political controversy. This element was the first one discovered by
Polonium tetrachloride Polonium tetrachloride forms a complex with two moles of tributyl phosphate. Like selenium tetrachloride and tellurium tetrachloride, polonium tetrachloride forms and halogen complexes. Polonium tetrachloride Polonium tetrachloride (also known as polonium(IV) chloride) is a chemical compound with the formula PoCl. It is a hygroscopic bright yellow crystalline solid at room temperature. Above 200 °C, it tends to decompose into polonium dichloride and excess chlorine, similar to selenium tetrachloride and tellurium tetrachloride. Polonium tetrachloride is either monoclinic or triclinic. Polonium tetrachloride is bright yellow at room temperature. At its melting point (300 °C), it becomes straw yellow, and at its boiling