[2][3] Two of the forms exist at extremely high temperatures, making it difficult for experimental studies to be done on the formation of their structures.

[3][4] Curium(III) oxide is either white or light tan in color and, while insoluble in water, is soluble in inorganic and mineral acids.

Route 1: The traditional aerosolization reaction utilizes curium metal as the starting material.

[6] NH3OH is then added to the purified curium nitrate, and the resulting precipitate is collected and rinsed with deionized water.

[6] Route 2: In other aerosolizations, instead of the addition of NH3OH to the purified curium nitrate, ammonium hydroxide is utilized to adjust the pH value of the solution to 9.

This precipitate is then collected through filtration and resuspended in deionized water, and a nebulizer is then used to aerosolize the product.

[8] This transformation is undergone upon spontaneous 244Cm alpha decay, which produces radiation damage effects within the cubic crystal lattice to distort it to that of hexagonal.

[3][4][7][12][13][14] (*: Different syntheses of curium trioxide have been shown to produce compounds with different experimental melting points.

[13] As recently as 2009, actinide oxides, such as curium sesquioxide, are being considered for storage uses (in the form of heavily durable ceramic glassware) for the transportation of the light-and-air sensitive fission and transmutation target substances.

Curium trioxide reacted with water has been hypothesized to afford a hydration reaction, but little experimentation has been done to prove the hypothesis.