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Radiopharmaceutical Research Institute

Nuclear Sensor design

As particles decrease in size and relative surface areas increase, the sensitivity of detection systems must rise. Radioisotopes are ideal non-destructive tools for studying various material engineering processes.Hexa aza cage synthesis sequence. At the top left, the radiometal ion is completely encapsulated in the hexa aza cage (blue). At the bottom right, the diagram shows where the hydrophobic groups can be attached (grey).

Like the design of radiopharmaceuticals that target disease processes in nuclear medicine, radioisotopes can be incorporated into molecules to form nuclear sensors. These nuclear sensors can be tailored to target specific material engineering processes. Their high sensitivity (up to 10E-5 ppb) and independence to media (i.e. solid, liquid or gas) make them particularly ideal for studying solid-liquid interfaces.

Understanding transport properties of porous materials and the reactivity of functional groups (e.g. carboxylic acids) on the surface of materials are just some applications of this technology. The half-life of the radioisotopes incorporated into the nuclear sensors can be used to monitor chemical processes over seconds through to hours, days and months. Once validated, they can be adapted for high through-put analysis using small quantities of materials (e.g. milligrams) or as in-line monitoring systems for evaluating stability or optimising material engineering processes.

Research aims

The aims of Nuclear Sensor Design research are to:

  1. Design, synthesise and fully-characterise a library of nuclear sensors for studying the transport properties and surface reactivity of nanopores,  functionalised particles and films. Nuclear sensors will be designed with varying characteristics for a wide range of applications and their suitability assessed under conditions relevant to their application.
  2. Apply nuclear sensors and neutron activation for use in nanotoxicology studies. This will involve the development of nuclear sensors for use in nanotoxicology studies and investigating the effect of neutron activation on the properties (e.g surface chemistry, particle size and defects) of industrially relevant nanoparticles (such as cerium oxide, zinc oxide, silver and carbon nanoparticles). Investigations into the effect of particle size on cellular uptake and on the biodistribution of neutron activated metal oxides and radiolabelled particles (cerium oxide, clays and titania particles) by using PET or SPECT imaging will also be undertaken.