Chemists from the G.A. Razuvaev Institute of Organometallic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Nizhny Novgorod State University have identified materials based on carbon and rare-earth metals of lanthanides that are resistant to strong radioactive radiation. This was reported in the journal Nature. This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation.
Lanthanides are substances from the group of rare-earth metals that have serial numbers from 57 to 71 in the periodic system of chemical elements. They got their name by the first element in this group under number 57 - lanthanum. Due to the peculiarities of the electronic structure of the atoms of these metals, their compounds have a number of unique properties.
The main and previously unknown feature of lanthanide-based organic materials is a high level of protection against radiation, Russian chemists say. Scientists subjected samples of substances created from these metals to powerful radiation obtained from the decay of the radioactive isotope of uranium. The total dose of absorbed radiation was 1300 Gray, which is almost 1000 times more lethal for humans. Under the influence of radiation, the color, shape, appearance and electrical parameters of the samples did not change.
“Optoelectronic materials, both organic and inorganic, are used in various devices. For example, there is a popular technology for creating OLED displays, which is based on the work of semiconductors - organic LEDs. We decided to expose the organometallic lanthanides to powerful radiation, similar to that detected 100 meters from the epicenter of a nuclear explosion with a capacity of 100 kilotons. The compound was supposed to turn to dust, but to our great surprise it turned out that all the molecules remained unchanged, ”Mikhail Bochkarev, head of the rare earth element chemistry laboratory of the Institute of Organometallic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in an interview with RT.
The resistance to irradiation of the studied organometallic compounds was almost 50% higher than for inorganic substances that are currently used for work in conditions of increased radiation. The use of new materials will allow the creation of sensitive electronic devices that are not exposed to powerful radioactive radiation, the researchers believe. Lanthanides can be used in the design of devices for work in spacecraft or nuclear power plants, and devices based on these compounds can be useful in enterprises for the processing and enrichment of radioactive substances and in territories affected by them.
“We found that all the optoelectronic properties of lanthanoid compounds will also manifest themselves under conditions of ionizing radiation - for example, in the core of nuclear reactors. This is one possible use case, ”said Professor Bochkarev.
The researcher noted that the unique properties of lanthanides open up new possibilities for their use in nuclear energy. Instead of modern nuclear power plants, new types of nuclear power plants can be used in the future, in which atomic energy will be transformed into electric energy without heat generation.
- The parameters of the samples of lanthanoid compounds after powerful irradiation did not change
- © Balasheva et al. / Scientific reports, 2019
“Lanthanoid compounds can theoretically be used to create devices that convert atomic energy into electrical energy bypassing the heating stage. In modern nuclear power plants, when nuclear fission occurs, a huge amount of energy is released that heats the coolant. On model devices, the idea of converting the energy of an atomic nucleus into an electron stream without heat evolution is already being realized. So we can already imagine that there will be nuclear power plants operating on this new principle, ”the scientist concluded.