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Title: Purification of lanthanides for double beta decay experiments

Abstract

There are several potentially double beta active isotopes among the lanthanide elements. However, even high purity grade lanthanide compounds contain {sup 238}U, {sup 226}Ra and {sup 232,228}Th typically on the level of ∼ (0.1 - 1) Bq/kg. The liquid-liquid extraction technique was used to remove traces of U, Ra and Th from CeO{sub 2}, Nd{sub 2}O{sub 3} and Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3}. The radioactive contamination of the samples before and after the purification was tested by using ultra-low-background HPGe γ spectrometry at the underground Gran Sasso National Laboratories of the INFN (Italy). After the purification the radioactive contamination of gadolinium oxide by Ra and Th was decreased at least one order of magnitude. The efficiency of the approach to purify cerium oxide from Ra was on same level, while the radioactive contamination of neodymium sample before and after the purification is below the sensitivity of analytical methods. The purification method is much less efficient for chemically very similar radioactive elements like lanthanum, lutetium and actinium. R and D of the methods to remove the pollutions with improved efficiency is in progress.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]; ; ; ; ;  [5]; ;  [6]; ; ;  [7]
  1. Institute for Nuclear Research, MSP 03680 Kyiv, Ukraine and INFN, Section of Rome, La Sapienza, I-00185 Rome (Italy)
  2. Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics, 117259 Moscow (Russian Federation)
  3. INFN, Section of Rome Tor Vergata, I-00133 Rome (Italy)
  4. INFN, Section of Rome Tor Vergata, I-00133 Rome, Italy and Department of Physics, University of Rome Tor Vergata, I-00133 Rome (Italy)
  5. Institute for Nuclear Research, MSP 03680 Kyiv (Ukraine)
  6. INFN, Section of Rome La Sapienza, I-00185 Rome, Italy and Department of Physics, University of Rome La Sapienza, I-00185 Rome (Italy)
  7. INFN, Gran Sasso National Laboratories, I-67100 Assergi (Aq) (Italy)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22224173
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
AIP Conference Proceedings
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 1549; Journal Issue: 1; Conference: LRT 2013: 4. international workshop on low radioactivity techniques, Assergi (Italy), 10-12 Apr 2013; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0094-243X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; 73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS; CERIUM OXIDES; CONTAMINATION; DOUBLE BETA DECAY; EFFICIENCY; GADOLINIUM OXIDES; GAMMA DETECTION; GAMMA SPECTROSCOPY; HIGH-PURITY GE DETECTORS; MASS NUMBER; NEODYMIUM OXIDES; PURIFICATION; RADIUM 226; SENSITIVITY; SOLVENT EXTRACTION; THORIUM 228; UNDERGROUND; URANIUM 238

Citation Formats

Polischuk, O. G., Barabash, A. S., Belli, P., Bernabei, R., Boiko, R. S., Danevich, F. A., Mokina, V. M., Poda, D. V., Tretyak, V. I., Cappella, F., Incicchitti, A., Cerulli, R., Laubenstein, M., and Nisi, S. Purification of lanthanides for double beta decay experiments. United States: N. p., 2013. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4818091.
Polischuk, O. G., Barabash, A. S., Belli, P., Bernabei, R., Boiko, R. S., Danevich, F. A., Mokina, V. M., Poda, D. V., Tretyak, V. I., Cappella, F., Incicchitti, A., Cerulli, R., Laubenstein, M., & Nisi, S. Purification of lanthanides for double beta decay experiments. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4818091
Polischuk, O. G., Barabash, A. S., Belli, P., Bernabei, R., Boiko, R. S., Danevich, F. A., Mokina, V. M., Poda, D. V., Tretyak, V. I., Cappella, F., Incicchitti, A., Cerulli, R., Laubenstein, M., and Nisi, S. 2013. "Purification of lanthanides for double beta decay experiments". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4818091.
@article{osti_22224173,
title = {Purification of lanthanides for double beta decay experiments},
author = {Polischuk, O. G. and Barabash, A. S. and Belli, P. and Bernabei, R. and Boiko, R. S. and Danevich, F. A. and Mokina, V. M. and Poda, D. V. and Tretyak, V. I. and Cappella, F. and Incicchitti, A. and Cerulli, R. and Laubenstein, M. and Nisi, S.},
abstractNote = {There are several potentially double beta active isotopes among the lanthanide elements. However, even high purity grade lanthanide compounds contain {sup 238}U, {sup 226}Ra and {sup 232,228}Th typically on the level of ∼ (0.1 - 1) Bq/kg. The liquid-liquid extraction technique was used to remove traces of U, Ra and Th from CeO{sub 2}, Nd{sub 2}O{sub 3} and Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3}. The radioactive contamination of the samples before and after the purification was tested by using ultra-low-background HPGe γ spectrometry at the underground Gran Sasso National Laboratories of the INFN (Italy). After the purification the radioactive contamination of gadolinium oxide by Ra and Th was decreased at least one order of magnitude. The efficiency of the approach to purify cerium oxide from Ra was on same level, while the radioactive contamination of neodymium sample before and after the purification is below the sensitivity of analytical methods. The purification method is much less efficient for chemically very similar radioactive elements like lanthanum, lutetium and actinium. R and D of the methods to remove the pollutions with improved efficiency is in progress.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4818091},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22224173}, journal = {AIP Conference Proceedings},
issn = {0094-243X},
number = 1,
volume = 1549,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Aug 08 00:00:00 EDT 2013},
month = {Thu Aug 08 00:00:00 EDT 2013}
}