Physics:Thulium-170

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Short description: Isotope of thulium
Thulium-170, 170Tm
General
Symbol170Tm
Namesthulium-170, Tm-170
Protons69
Neutrons101
Nuclide data
Natural abundanceSynthetic
Half-life128.6±0.3 d[1]
Decay products170Yb
170Er
Isotope mass169.935807093(785)[1] u
Spin1+[1]
Binding energy1377937.45±0.73[1] keV
Decay modes
Decay modeDecay energy (MeV)
β0.8838, 0.9686[2]
EC0.2341, 0.3122[2]
Isotopes of Chemistry:thulium
Complete table of nuclides

Thulium-170 (170Tm or Tm-170) is a radioactive isotope of thulium proposed for use in radiotherapy and in radioisotope thermoelectric generators.

Properties

Thulium-170 has a binding energy of 8105.5144(43) keV per nucleon and a half-life of 128.6±0.3 d. It decays by β decay to 170Yb about 99.869% of the time, and by electron capture to 170Er about 0.131% of the time.[1] About 18.1% of β decays populate a narrow excited state of 170Yb at 84.25474(8) keV (t1/2 = 1.61 ± 0.02 ns), and this is the main X-ray emission from 170Tm; lower bands are also produced through X-ray fluorescence at 7.42, 51.354, 52.389, 59.159, 59.383, and 60.962 keV.[2][3]

The ground state of thulium-170 has a spin of 1+. The charge radius is 5.2303(36) fm, the magnetic moment is 0.2458(17) μN, and the electric quadrupole moment is 0.72(5) e⋅b.[4]

Proposed applications

As a rare-earth element, thulium-170 can be used as the pure metal or thulium hydride, but most commonly thulium oxide due to the refractory properties of that compound.[5][6] The isotope can be prepared in a medium-strength reactor by neutron irradiation of natural thulium, which has a high neutron capture cross section of 103 barns.[3][6]

Medicine

In 1953, the Atomic Energy Research Establishment introduced thulium-170 as a candidate for radiography in medical and steelmaking contexts,[7] but this was deemed unsuitable due to the predominant high-energy bremsstrahlung radiation, poor results on thin specimens, and long exposure times.[8] However, 170Tm has been proposed for radiotherapy because the isotope is simple to prepare into a biocompatible form, and the low-energy radiation can selectively irradiate diseased tissue without causing collateral damage.[3][9]

Radiothermal generator

As the oxide (Tm
2
O
3
), thulium-170 has been proposed as a radiothermal source due to it being safer, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly than commonly used isotopes such as plutonium-238.[10][11] The heat output from a 170Tm source is initially much greater than from a 238Pu source relative to mass, but it declines rapidly due to its shorter half-life.[6]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Kondev, F. G.; Wang, M.; Huang, W. J.; Naimi, S.; Audi, G. (2021). "The NUBASE2020 evaluation of nuclear properties". Chinese Physics C 45 (3): 030001. doi:10.1088/1674-1137/abddae. https://www-nds.iaea.org/amdc/ame2020/NUBASE2020.pdf. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "NuDat 3". https://www.nndc.bnl.gov/nudat3/. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Polyak, Andras; Das, Tapas; Chakraborty, Sudipta; Kiraly, Reka; Dabasi, Gabriella; Joba, Robert Peter; Jakab, Csaba; Thuroczy, Julianna et al. (October 2014). "Thulium-170-Labeled Microparticles for Local Radiotherapy: Preliminary Studies" (in en). Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals 29 (8): 330–338. doi:10.1089/cbr.2014.1680. ISSN 1084-9785. PMID 25226213. https://www.academia.edu/13307480/Thulium_170_Labeled_Microparticles_for_Local_Radiotherapy_Preliminary_Studies. 
  4. Mertzimekis, Theo J.. "NUMOR | Nuclear Moments and Radii | University of Athens | since 2007". https://magneticmoments.info/numor/isotope_measurement_results.php?Z=69&A=170. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 Walter, C.E.; Van Konynenburg, R.; VanSant, J.H. (6 September 1990). "Thulium-170 heat source". doi:10.2172/10156110. https://www.osti.gov/biblio/10156110. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Dustin, J. Seth; Borrelli, R.A. (December 2021). "Assessment of alternative radionuclides for use in a radioisotope thermoelectric generator". Nuclear Engineering and Design 385: 111475. doi:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2021.111475. https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1832380. 
  7. Hilbish, Theodore F. (November 1954). "Developments in diagnostic radiology". Public Health Reports 69 (11): 1017–1027. doi:10.2307/4588947. ISSN 0094-6214. PMID 13215708. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 Halmshaw, Ronald (1995). Industrial radiology: theory and practice (2. ed.). London: Chapman & Hall. pp. 59–60. ISBN 0412627809. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 Vats, Kusum; Das, Tapas; Sarma, Haladhar D.; Banerjee, Sharmila; Pillai, M.r.a. (December 2013). "Radiolabeling, Stability Studies, and Pharmacokinetic Evaluation of Thulium-170-Labeled Acyclic and Cyclic Polyaminopolyphosphonic Acids". Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals 28 (10): 737–745. doi:10.1089/cbr.2013.1475. ISSN 1084-9785. PMID 23931111. https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/39452235/Polyak_et_al_-_Thulium-170-Labeled_Micro20151027-29202-1id84pt-libre.pdf?1445936337=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DPolyak_et_al_Thulium_170_Labeled_Micropa.pdf&Expires=1699819769&Signature=AGjXXJasvYKkKtVfZYGDWFXSCDcNEBgFrVjZ4wGQ9Nk6NwTu7leQ0zJiaZt~YpgKoKuCqxfMtfJ-BLM1mZQIIMdj-CdX7uEI49jeVOZRqWkv1wPCYjqSuZx2V~KAB5s9nqDeKtqIGNAYC-gQQKmDpdh-jkcObOZJ18WG-a-YPBc8o~7MOSF-41HZuypDeG38210-lTA8s5i4w4BXKJdns91BmY~GrJph1jR4JBHn0qRY8L-vw4lIIfBMDkptMiB-0A5eLt-mjpIH7D7rylwQ3Q0HcOUA39YsoS0q9EGdaXq9kTAfFWkgL88JlaUURsXWi-QVsqpaD~XH5Nx94MxQLQ__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA. 
  10. 10.0 10.1 Walter, C. E. (1 July 1991). "Infrastructure for thulium-170 isotope power systems for autonomous underwater vehicle fleets" (in English). Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States). https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5491258. 
  11. Alderman, Carol J. (1993). "Thulium heat sources for space power application". AIP Conference Proceedings. 271. pp. 1085–1091. doi:10.1063/1.43194. 


Lighter:
thulium-169
Thulium-170 is an
isotope of thulium
Heavier:
thulium-171
Decay product of:
Decay chain
of thulium-170
Decays to:
erbium-170
ytterbium-170