Flow electrolytic separation of radionuclides for interference suppression in γ-spectrometry

Area of Science:

• Nuclear analytical chemistry
• Electrochemistry
• Radiochemistry

Background:

• Measuring low-level gamma emitters in nuclear facilities is difficult due to high background radiation from dominant radionuclides.
• Complex chemical separations are often needed to remove interfering isotopes before gamma spectrometry.
• Key radionuclides like silver-110m (^110mAg), antimony-124/125 (^124,125Sb), tin-113 (¹¹³Sn), and tellurium-123m (^123mTe) require precise measurement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement flow electrolysis for pre-analytical separation of radionuclides.
• To suppress interfering radionuclides and improve gamma-spectrometric measurements.
• To enhance the accuracy and reduce detection limits for low-level radioactivity analysis.

Main Methods:

• Characterization of inactive Ag, Sb, Sn, and Te using voltammetry.
• Selective electrodeposition and stripping using a custom-built electrochemical flow-through cell.
• Optimization of applied potentials for efficient separation of stable elements and radioactive tracers.

Main Results:

• Optimized flow electrolysis procedures demonstrated effective separation of stable elements.
• Application to radioactive tracers and nuclear facility samples significantly decreased uncertainty and detection limits (by one order of magnitude) in gamma spectrometry.
• Improved determination of low-level ^123mTe and identification of previously undetected ¹⁰³Ru and ^110mAg.

Conclusions:

• Combining flow electrolysis with gamma spectrometry offers significant advantages for analyzing low-level radionuclides in complex matrices.
• This approach provides unique chemical selectivity compared to traditional methods.
• Flow electrolysis can be integrated with other techniques like liquid scintillation counting, alpha spectrometry, ion-exchange, or extraction chromatography.