Nanoscopic study of chemical species during uranium electrodeposition for alpha spectrometry sources

High resolution alpha spectrometry (AS) is commonly applied for the determination of actinides and other alpha-emitting nuclides in many applications. Electrodeposition is the standard procedure for preparing α-particle sources usually made of a thin and uniform radioactive deposit onto a metallic s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of materials science 2010-09, Vol.45 (18), p.5061-5070
Main Authors: Méndez, C. G., Esparza-Ponce, H. E., Beesley, A. M., Crespo, M. T., Fuentes, L., Fuentes-Montero, L., Murillo, G., Varela, A., Montero-Cabrera, M. E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Actinides
Analysis
Atomic force microscopy
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Chemistry and Materials Science
Classical Mechanics
Crystallography and Scattering Methods
Deposits
Electrochemical reactions
Electrodeposition
Fine structure
Icam 2009
Materials Science
Microscopy
Morphology
Nanostructure
Nuclear radiation
Nuclides
Organic chemistry
Platinum
Polymer Sciences
Scanning electron microscopy
Scientific imaging
Solid Mechanics
Spectral resolution
Spectrometry
Spectroscopy
Spectrum analysis
Substrates
Surface roughness
Surface structure
Synchrotron radiation
Uranium
X ray absorption
X-ray diffraction
X-rays
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Description
Summary:High resolution alpha spectrometry (AS) is commonly applied for the determination of actinides and other alpha-emitting nuclides in many applications. Electrodeposition is the standard procedure for preparing α-particle sources usually made of a thin and uniform radioactive deposit onto a metallic substrate. Natural U sources prepared by the Hallstadius method are known to contain co-deposited Pt from the anode. In this sense, the main aim of this work is to conclusively review the behaviour of Pt and U in the electrodeposition process and their distribution in the resulting deposit, factors that are responsible for the thickness and uniformity of the sources. In addition to new scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM–EDX) and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) data, the electrodeposited surface has been analyzed using both atomic force microscopy (AFM) and synchrotron radiation Grazing Incidence X-ray diffraction (GI-XRD). The results concerning morphology of the deposit, surface roughness, topography and surface structure obtained from sources prepared at different electrodeposition times agree with the AS results concerning electrodeposition yield and spectral resolution.
ISSN:0022-2461
1573-4803
DOI:10.1007/s10853-010-4389-4