(Funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology)
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have demonstrated a new and faster method for detecting and measuring the radioactivity of minuscule amounts of radioactive material. The innovative technique, known as cryogenic decay energy spectrometry, could have far-reaching impacts, from improving cancer treatments to ensuring the safety of nuclear waste cleanup. The researchers use a specialized inkjet device to carefully dispense tiny amounts, less than 1 millionth of a gram, of a radioactive solution onto thin gold foils. These gold foils have a surface dotted with tiny pores just billionths of a meter in size. These nanopores help to absorb the tiny droplets of the radioactive solution. By precisely measuring the mass of the solution that is dispensed using the inkjet and then measuring the radioactivity of the dried sample on the gold foils, the researchers can calculate the radioactivity per unit mass of the sample.
Categories: National Institute of Standards and Technology, NNI-NEWS
