Synthesis of nanomaterials for their applications in nuclear research and radioisotope production

Applications of radioactivity include nuclear medicine and nuclear power, with both industries seeing increased usage and demand every year. Yet, the dangerous nature of the radioactive decay makes it such that widely utilizing radioactivity in society requires proper planning and design for our health and safety. This is not limited to the usage of radioactivity, but also to the production and processing of radioactive materials. Research into the relationship between nanoscale events within a material and the resulting macroscopic properties strongly suggests that nanoscale materials and nanostructures can have a profound impact in developing radiation tolerant materials. This thesis demonstrates the benefits of nanomaterials in the production and processing of radioactive substances, and tolerance to irradiation events. The syntheses of both spherical nanoparticles of sulfur and BaTiO3 nanoparticles were each pursued to utilize these nanomaterials for the purposes of these studies on the interactions of these materials with radiation. We demonstrate production and extraction of 32P from the 32S(n,p)32P reaction through the use of a neutron generator. We also demonstrate an easier extraction of the 32P from nanosized sulfur in comparison to its extraction from a commercial sulfur powder. The stability of synthesized BaTiO3 nanoparticles, in terms of crystallinity and structure, was investigated under ~14 MeV neutron irradiation at fluences up to 1 x 1010 neutrons cm-2. In addition, an alternative method is demonstrated to aid in visualizing the extent and the distribution of atomic displacements within the lattices of the irradiated nanostructures. This method is simpler and more cost-effective than the equipment typically required to view atomic displacements such as through the use of aberration corrected high resolution electron microscopes.