Physics:Gold-198

From HandWiki
Gold-198, 198Au
General
Symbol198Au
Namesgold-198, Au-198
Protons79
Neutrons119
Nuclide data
Half-life2.6946 d[1]
Decay products198Hg
Isotope mass197.9682437Template:AME2020 II u
Spin2−
Decay modes
Decay modeDecay energy (MeV)
β1.373[2]
Isotopes of Chemistry:gold
Complete table of nuclides

Gold-198 (198Au) is a radioactive isotope of gold, normally made by neutron capture on natural gold (entirely gold-197). It undergoes exclusively beta decay to stable 198Hg with a half-life of 2.6946 days.

The decay properties of 198Au have led to interest in its potential use in radiotherapy for cancer treatments. This isotope has also found use in nuclear weapons research and as a radioactive tracer in hydrological research.

Discovery

198Au was possibly observed for the first time in 1935 by Enrico Fermi et al., though it was not correctly identified at the time. This isotope was conclusively identified in 1937 following neutron irradiation of stable 197Au and was ascribed a half-life of approximately 2.7 days.[3]

Decay

Decay scheme of 198Au to 198Hg

The decay of 198Au (shown) is relatively simple, involving only three levels of the daughter product nucleus. 99% of decaying atoms follow the path to the middle level, and thus emit a beta particle with maximum energy 961 keV (the rest goes to the neutrino) and a single gamma ray of energy 412 keV (converted about 4%).[2]

Applications

Nuclear medicine

198Au is used for radiotherapy in some cancer treatments.[4][5] Its properties may be favorable for use in medicine because the 4 mm penetration range of its beta particles in tissue allows it to destroy tumors without nearby non-cancerous tissue being affected by radiation,[6] and its half-life is short but not so short as to create problems in handling or delivery. For this reason, 198Au nanoparticles are being investigated as an injectable treatment for prostate cancer.[6][7]

Radioactive tracing

Sediment and water flow can be investigated using radioactive tracers such as 198Au. This has been used extensively since artificial radioisotopes became available in the 1950s, as a supplement to millennia of investigations using other tracing techniques.[8]

Inside coker units at oil refineries, 198Au is used to study the hydrodynamic behavior of solids in fluidized beds and can also be used to quantify the degree of fouling of bed internals.[9]

Nuclear weapons

Gold has been proposed as a material for creating a salted nuclear weapon (cobalt is another, better-known salting material). A jacket of natural 197Au (the only stable gold isotope), irradiated by the intense neutron flux from an exploding thermonuclear weapon, would be transmuted into 198Au, whose gamma emission would significantly increase the radioactive hazard of the weapon's fallout for days. Such a weapon is not known to have ever been built, tested, or used.[10] However, 198Au was created during the SL-1 accident in 1961 when the reactor went prompt critical, causing 197Au in a reactor operator's wedding ring to transmute into 198Au.[11]

The highest amount of 198Au detected in any United States nuclear test was in shot "Sedan" detonated at Nevada Test Site on July 6, 1962.[12]

See also

References

  1. Kondev, F. G.; Wang, M.; Huang, W. J.; Naimi, S.; Audi, G. (2021). "The NUBASE2020 evaluation of nuclear properties". Chinese Physics C 45 (3). doi:10.1088/1674-1137/abddae. https://www-nds.iaea.org/amdc/ame2020/NUBASE2020.pdf. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 National Nuclear Data Center. "NuDat 2.x database". Brookhaven National Laboratory. http://www.nndc.bnl.gov/nudat2/. 
  3. Schuh, A.; Fritsch, A.; Ginepro, J.Q.; Heim, M.; Shore, A.; Thoennessen, M. (2010). "Discovery of the gold isotopes". Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables 96 (3): 307–314. doi:10.1016/j.adt.2009.12.001. Bibcode2010ADNDT..96..307S. https://people.nscl.msu.edu/~thoennes/2009/gold-adndt.pdf. 
  4. "Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Nanomedicine: Hybrid Nanoparticles In Imaging and Therapy of Prostate Cancer". Radiopharmaceutical Sciences Institute, University of Missouri-Columbia. Archived from the original on March 14, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090314121232/http://web.missouri.edu/~kattik/katti/katres.html. 
  5. Hainfeld, James F.; Dilmanian, F. Avraham; Slatkin, Daniel N.; Smilowitz, Henry M. (2008). "Radiotherapy enhancement with gold nanoparticles". Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 60 (8): 977–85. doi:10.1211/jpp.60.8.0005. PMID 18644191. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 Katti, K.V.; Khoobchandanai, M.; Al-Yasiri, A.; Katti, K.K.; Cutler, C.; Loyalka, S.K. (2017). "Radioactive Gold-198 Nanoparticles In Nanomedicine: Green Nanotechnology and Radiochemical Approaches in Oncology". 6th Asia-Pacific Symposium on Radiochemistry. Jeju. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323525522. 
  7. "Green Tea and Gold Nanoparticles Destroy Prostate Tumors". 2012. http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/green-tea-and-gold-nanoparticles-destroy-prostate-tumors/81247048/. 
  8. Plata-Bedmar, A. (1988). Artificial radioisotopes in hydrological investigation: A review of specific applications (Report). Topical reports. IAEA Bulletin. pp. 35–38. https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/publications/magazines/bulletin/bull30-1/30105683538.pdf. 
  9. Sanchez, Francisco J.; Granovskiy, Mikhail (2012). "Application of radioactive particle tracking to indicate shed fouling in the stripper section of a fluid coker". Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering 91 (6): 1175–1182. doi:10.1002/cjce.21740. 
  10. D. T. Win; M. Al Masum (2003). "Weapons of Mass Destruction". Assumption University Journal of Technology 6 (4): 199–219. http://www.journal.au.edu/au_techno/2003/apr2003/aujt6-4_article07.pdf. Retrieved 2024-04-28. 
  11. "SL-1 Reactor Accident on January 3, 1961, Interim Report," May 15, 1961, IDO-19300, CEND-128, Combustion Engineering, Inc., Nuclear Division, Windsor, Connecticut.
  12. R. L. Miller (2002). U.S. Atlas of Nuclear Fallout, 1951–1970. 1 (Abridged General Reader ed.). Two Sixty Press. p. 340. ISBN 978-1-881043-13-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=EC03ta0ErHAC&q=sedan+shot+fallout&pg=PA340.