Production of no-carrier-added aqueous 198Au3+ ions in a Szilárd-Chalmers-like nuclear reaction

Abstract

Neutron irradiation of gold foils in H2O causes the release of 198Au into the liquid in measurable quantities. Experiments prove that irradiation of the foils in water indeed yields 10 times more activity in the liquid than when the foil is removed from the liquid before irradiation. The activity of the gold foil shows no correlation with the yield of ejected 198Au ions, but the duration of neutron irradiation does. However, not all experiments are fully conclusive as no linearity between irradiation duration and emitted 198Au is apparent. A speciation experiment by crystallization reveals that the nuclear reaction produces 198Au3+ ions quantitatively.