Design of model tokamak particles for future toxicity studies: Morphology and physical characterization

Bernard, E.; Jambon, F; Georges, I.; Sobrido, Marcos Sanles; Rosé, Jacky; Herlin‐Boime, Nathalie; Miserque, F.; Beaunier, Patricia; Vrel, D.; Dine, Sarah; Hodille, E.; Chêne, J.; Garcia‐Argote, Sébastien; Pieters, Grégory; Peillon, S.; Gensdarmes, F.; Dinescu, Gheorghe; Acsente, T.; Uboldi, Chiara; Orsière, Thierry; Malard, Véronique; Rousseau, Bernard; Delaporte, Ph.; Grisolia, Christian

doi:10.1016/j.fusengdes.2019.05.037

Cited by 9 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A detailed physico-chemical characterization of the ITER-like plasma and laser W-NPs, in their powder form, was already presented [15,16,19] and is here summarized in Table 2.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even if we can identify similarities between the outcome of previous studies on W and our data, there are some important differences that we think are pivotal in understanding our results and the mechanisms by which W results toxic. First of all, our bench produced plasma and laser ITER-like W-NPs display peculiar physico-chemical properties [15,16,17]. More in detail, although they are metallic W-NPs, XAS and helium pycnometer analysis have shown that a significant fraction of tungsten oxide (WO x ) is present and it could participate in the toxicity of the particles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two synthesis methods were used to produce ITER-like W-NPs with different physico-chemical properties: magnetron plasma sputtering and gas condensation (plasma W-NPs), and laser ablation (laser W-NPs). Detailed description of the production set-up and morphology, composition, and crystalline structure were already described [15,16,17]. Given the characteristics of the tokamak that will operate at ITER, particles of irregular shape and of smaller size than those produced by other already existing W-based tokamaks are expected.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

In Vitro Analysis of the Effects of ITER-Like Tungsten Nanoparticles: Cytotoxicity and Epigenotoxicity in BEAS-2B Cells

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Tungsten was chosen as a wall component to interact with the plasma generated by the International Thermonuclear Experimental fusion Reactor (ITER). Nevertheless, during plasma operation tritiated tungsten nanoparticles (W-NPs) will be formed and potentially released into the environment following a Loss-Of-Vacuum-Accident, causing occupational or accidental exposure. We therefore investigated, in the bronchial human-derived BEAS-2B cell line, the cytotoxic and epigenotoxic effects of two types of ITER-like W-NPs (plasma sputtering or laser ablation), in their pristine, hydrogenated, and tritiated forms. Long exposures (24 h) induced significant cytotoxicity, especially for the hydrogenated ones. Plasma W-NPs impaired cytostasis more severely than the laser ones and both types and forms of W-NPs induced significant micronuclei formation, as shown by cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay. Single DNA strand breaks, potentially triggered by oxidative stress, occurred upon exposure to W-NPs and independently of their form, as observed by alkaline comet assay. After 24 h it was shown that more than 50% of W was dissolved via oxidative dissolution. Overall, our results indicate that W-NPs can affect the in vitro viability of BEAS-2B cells and induce epigenotoxic alterations. We could not observe significant differences between plasma and laser W-NPs so their toxicity might not be triggered by the synthesis method.

show abstract

“…A detailed physico-chemical characterization of the ITER-like plasma and laser W-NPs, in their powder form, was already presented [15,16,19] and is here summarized in Table 2.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

In Vitro Analysis of the Effects of ITER-Like Tungsten Nanoparticles: Cytotoxicity and Epigenotoxicity in BEAS-2B Cells

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…W NPs obtained by MSGA were reported for the first time by us in [28]. Further works were related to studies regarding tritium absorption and retention [39,40] in this material and W NP cytotoxicity [41][42][43]. These experiments will be also presented briefly in this chapter.…”

Section: Tungsten Nanoparticles: Their Applications and Methods For Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tungsten Nanoparticles Produced by Magnetron Sputtering Gas Aggregation: Process Characterization and Particle Properties

Acsente¹,

Bernard²,

Dinescu³

et al. 2020

Progress in Fine Particle Plasmas

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Tungsten and tungsten nanoparticles are involved in a series of processes, in nanotechnology, metallurgy, and fusion technology. Apart from chemical methods, nanoparticle synthesis by plasma offers advantages as good control of size, shape, and surface chemistry. The plasma methods are also environmentally friendly. In this chapter, we present aspects related to the magnetron sputtering gas aggregation (MSGA) process applied to synthesis of tungsten nanoparticles, with size in the range of tens to hundreds of nanometers. We present the MSGA process and its peculiarities in the case of tungsten nanoparticle synthesis. The properties of the obtained particles with a focus on the influence of the process parameters over the particle production rate, their size, morphology, and structure are discussed. To the end, we emphasize the utility of such particles for assessing the environmental and biological impacts in case of using tungsten as wall material in thermonuclear fusion reactors.

show abstract

“…A full dissolution was obtained after 2 to 60 days of exposure to 100-200 nm W particles depending on the dust type [16,17]. In addition, a full dissolution of large W particles (up to 7 µm of diameter) was also observed.…”

Section: Toxicity Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current investigations on tritiated dust and its impact on tokamak safety

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

During International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor operation, due to plasma–wall interaction, particles/dust will be created in sizes ranging from nanometers to tens of microns. The dust properties, especially their ability to be covered by a thin oxide electrostatic insulating layer, and surface topology deeply affect their tritium inventory. Consequently, physico-chemical properties specific to tritiated tungsten particles and consequence on particle behavior in the facility and environment must be carefully assessed. For size-relevant tungsten particles, the measured tritium inventory is ~10 GBq g−1. However, it varies with the particle specific surface area. Due to tritium beta decay and the oxide-insulating layer, dust exhibits a positive electrostatic self-charging. For a 5 µm particle in diameter with a 10 GBq g−1 tritium inventory, self-charging rate could lead to 5.5 104 elementary electric charges per day. These electrostatic properties could change the adhesion of dust on walls. In the case of a single particle, the adhesion will be reinforced due to image and dielectric forces. However, if the tritiated particle is part of an aggregate, the adhesion remains unknown. Due to the limited free path of the β emission in material, the tritium inventory carried by airborne particles cannot be measured in real time by conventional continuous radioactive aerosols monitors, and a new measurement strategy is needed for atmospheric surveillance in the workplace and of facility exhaust. Toxicity studies dealing with exposure to untritiated/tritiated tungsten particles of 100 nm have been undertaken. It was shown that these particles are rapidly dissolved in biologic media. Finally, after collection, dust must be confined to avoid its spreading into the environment. Different technical solutions are presented in this paper.

show abstract

Design of model tokamak particles for future toxicity studies: Morphology and physical characterization

Cited by 9 publications

References 21 publications

In Vitro Analysis of the Effects of ITER-Like Tungsten Nanoparticles: Cytotoxicity and Epigenotoxicity in BEAS-2B Cells

In Vitro Analysis of the Effects of ITER-Like Tungsten Nanoparticles: Cytotoxicity and Epigenotoxicity in BEAS-2B Cells

Tungsten Nanoparticles Produced by Magnetron Sputtering Gas Aggregation: Process Characterization and Particle Properties

Current investigations on tritiated dust and its impact on tokamak safety

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About