Alpha-particle spectrometry for the determination of alpha emitting isotopes in nuclear, environmental and biological samples: past, present and future

Abstract

Alpha spectrometry (AS) is an important and useful radiometric analytical technique for the qualitative identification and quantitative determination of α-emitting radionuclides in environmental, biological and nuclear technology related samples.

In situ liquid SIMS analysis of uranium oxide

“…We demonstrate that we can use a unique microfluidic vacuum compatible sample holder named SALVI to conduct in situ liquid ToF‐SIMS analysis of UO 2 ‐containing solutions. This initial result provides a promising approach in determining the signature chemical species in nuclear materials and environmental samples without the need of elaborate sample preparation steps (e.g., lengthy chemical separation before alpha spectrometry analysis 29,30 ). For instance, desiccating the liquid sample would cause the loss of valuable organic information that could be utilized to identify the source of the nuclear materials.…”

Electro-Precipitation of Actinides on Boron-Doped Diamond Thin Films for Solid Sources Preparation for High-Resolution Alpha-Particle Spectrometry

“…Alpha-particle spectroscopy is commonly used for applications in various fields such as nuclear [1][2][3][4], environmental [5][6][7][8], artistic [9,10], and biological [11][12][13][14] samples. Conventional approaches for the preparation of alpha-particle sources generally include (i) radiochemical separation and purification [15,16], (ii) preparation of weightless and thin solid source onto a suitable backing material [17][18][19], and (iii) alpha-particle spectroscopic measurements under vacuum conditions using solid-state semiconductor detectors [20][21][22][23][24]. High-resolution alpha-spectrometry is always needed for qualitative identification and accurate determination of the alpha-emitting radioactive isotopes concerned.…”

“…For this purpose, the preparation of low mass solid sources with high uniformity that reveals a significant feature is still today extensively investigated. Conventional approaches include vacuum sublimation, drop-casting, co-precipitation, and electro-precipitation [16,17,21,25,26]. While drop-casting generally allows relatively poor resolution with a large low-energy tail contribution, vacuum sublimation requires an elaborated set-up and gives a relatively poor deposition yield, and co-precipitation is very time-consuming since the sample must be pretreated using chromatography for separation and purification of the actinides.…”

Investigation of key factors in preparation of alpha sources by electrodeposition

“…The radiochemical separation methods used prior to the source preparation should be highly selective and sensitive to produce solutions of analytes as free as possible from any spectral or chemical interferences, and the source preparation itself should be quantitative and reproducible, giving homogenous, stable sources suitable for measurements at all source-detector distances. Many different source preparation techniques for alpha-particle spectrometry have been developed over the years to meet these necessary requirements (Aggarwal, 2016;Crespo, 2012;Lally and Glover, 1984;Sibbens and Altzitzoglou, 2007), but electrodeposition is certainly the most studied and still one of the most frequently used methods for determination of alpha-emitters in a variety of samples: environmental (Carvalho and Oliveira, 2009;Jia et al, 2002), geological (dos Santos et al, 2004), biological (Gaburo et al, 2006;Rzemek et al, 2015), industrial (Carvalho and Oliveira, 2009;Zarki et al, 2003), etc. Optimization of the electrodeposition method usually focuses on the usage of different aqueous and/or organic electrolyte solutions (Hallstadius, 1984;Ingelbrecht et al, 1997;Jobbágy et al, 2013;Kressin, 1977;Lee and Lee, 2000;Puphal and Olsen, 1972;Talvitie, 1972;Torrico et al, 2015) or on the improvements made on the system itself (e.g.…”

“…All the parameters that influence the electrodeposition yield and the source quality (chemical composition of the electrolyte solution, applied current/voltage, electrodeposition time, pH of the electrolytic solution, distance between the electrodes, electrolyte volume) need to be adjusted whenever such modifications are made. Furthermore, the process should enable (semi)quantitative deposition for various radionuclides under the same initial electrodeposition conditions (Aggarwal, 2016).…”