Californium Electrodepositions at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Conference · Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-015-4148-8· OSTI ID:1214469

Boll, Rose Ann ^[1]

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1. ORNL

Electrodepositions of californium isotopes were successfully performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) during the past year involving two different types of deposition solutions, ammonium acetate (NH₄C₂H₃O₂) and isobutanol ((CH₃)₂CHCH₂OH). A californium product that was decay enriched in ²⁵¹Cf was recovered for use in super-heavy element (SHE) research. This neutron-rich isotope, ²⁵¹Cf, provides target material for SHE research for the potential discovery of heavier isotopes of Z=118. The californium material was recovered from aged ²⁵²Cf neutron sources in storage at ORNL. These sources have decayed for over 30 years, thus providing material with a very high ²⁵¹Cf-to-²⁵²Cf ratio. After the source capsules were opened, the californium was purified and then electrodeposited using the isobutanol method onto thin titanium foils for use in an accelerator at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia. Another deposition method, ammonium acetate, was used to produce a deposition containing 1.7 0.1 Ci of ²⁵²Cf onto a stainless steel substrate. This was the largest single electrodeposition of ²⁵²Cf ever prepared. The ²⁵²Cf material was initially purified using traditional ion exchange media, such as AG50-AHIB and AG50-HCl, and further purified using a TEVA-NH₄SCN system to remove any lanthanides, resulting in the recovery of 3.6 0.1 mg of purified ²⁵²Cf. The ammonium acetate deposition was run with a current of 1.0 amp, resulting in a 91.5% deposition yield. Purification and handling of the highly radioactive californium material created additional challenges in the production of these sources.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE Office of Science (SC); USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1214469
• Resource Relation: Journal Volume: 305; Journal Issue: 3; Conference: International Nuclear Target Development Society (INTDS) 2014, Tokyo, Japan, 20140831, 20140905
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY
californium
electrodeposition
isobutanyl
ammonium acetate
super heavy elements
targets