Neutron diffraction using an electron linear accelerator

The Harwell electron linear acceleratorhelios has been used for studying the crystal structures of polycrystalline materials by neutron diffraction. Atomic positions and atomic vibrational amplitudes can be determined equally well with the pulsed method as with the more conventional method employing a high-flux nuclear reactor as source. The powder pattern can be indexed more easily with pulsed neutrons.     

Improvement of municipal wastewaters by electron beam accelerator in Brazil

Radiation processing of municipal sewage and sludge has been considered not only for disinfection but also for solids and organic matter removal in Brazil. The improvement of irradiated systems were demonstrated by the elimination of indicator bacteria and by the reduction on the total bacteria count, on the chemical and biochemical oxygen demand from raw sewage and biologically treated effluents. The selected doses of radiation to be applied to sewage and sewage sludge are in the range of 3.0 to 4.0 kGy to sewage and 4.0 to 6.0 kGy to sewage sludge.     

Chemical dosimeters for electron beam dosimetry of microtron accelerator

The variable energy microtron at Mangalore University has been used to study the effect of radiation on different materials and biological systems. While studying the effects of radiation, it is essential to have complete knowledge of absorbed dose. In the present study the dose due to 8 MeV electron beam from microtron accelerator has been calculated using chemical dosimeters. The uniformity of dose distribution at various points of the irradiation area also has been calibrated. From the dosimetry studies it is observed that there is a linear relation between dose and electron numbers over a wide range of absorbed doses. It is evaluated that the electron counts of about 1.15 × 10¹⁴ corresponds to an absorbed dose of 100 Gy and a field size of about 4 × 4 cm is available at 30 cm distance from the beam exit window over which the dose distribution is uniform.     

Cell inactivation studies on yeast cells under euoxic and hypoxic condition using electron beam from microtron accelerator

In the case of sparsely ionizing radiation such as electron, the dose rate and the pattern of energy deposition of the radiation are the important physical factors which can affect the amount of damage in living cells. In the present study, the differences in the cell survival efficiency and dose rate effect in diploid yeast strains Saccharomyces cerevisiae X2180 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae D7 under euoxic and hypoxic condition have been quantified. Irradiation was carried out using 8 MeV pulsed electron beam from Microtron accelerator. The dose per pulse and pulse width of the beam used was 0.6 Gy and 2.3 μs, respectively, which correspond to an instantaneous dose rate of 2.6 × 10⁵ Gy s⁻¹. For survival studies doses were delivered at a rate of 50 pulses per second (an average dose rate of 1,800 Gy s⁻¹). Fricke and alanine dosimeters were used to measure the dose delivered to the sample. A significant difference in the dose response has been observed under euoxic and hypoxic condition. Dose rate effect has been studied by changing the pulse repetition rate of the Microtron and the dose rate used was from 180 to 1800 Gy min⁻¹. A significant dose rate effect was observed under euoxic condition for Saccharomyces cerevisiae X2180 but the same was absent under hypoxic condition. The dose rate effect was absent for Saccharomyces cerevisiae D7 under both irradiation condition. The survival curves are found to be sigmoidal in shape under both condition but with a wider shoulder under hypoxic condition. The D₀ value and the Oxygen Enhancement Ratio (OER) at that point have been derived.     

Synthesis of biocidal polymers containing metal NPs using an electron beam

Metal containing antibacterial polymers were prepared by the polymerization of methylmethacrylate and methacrylic acid with copper or zinc. When the thin film of the polymers coated on a glass was irradiated with an electron beam, nanoparticles were obtained. It was found that these polymers exhibited a potent antibacterial activity against the Gram-negative bacteria, Escherichia coli. The metal containing polymers showed a 99.999% (5.0 logs) reduction in E. coli at a contact time of 12 h.In addition, polymers had a good antifouling effect against marine organisms.     

Re-commissioning of an electron accelerator: industrial-type in research style

After 25 years of utilization in 1992, the electron linear accelerator was replaced by a modern type, CIRCE III of CGR-MeV (now Thomson-CSF). The goal had been to bring a typical industrial-style machine-source of radiation to the research institute in order to enable it to study any relevant parameter in radiation processing of food under commercial conditions. The machine should be as close in design to industrial practices, but at the same time allow for research into dosimetry and process control. As the FRCN moved to its new site, the decision was to re-install the accelerator there. At this occasion and based on the operating experiences of the recent years, several new features were introduced: the scan mode was changed from during-pulse to shot-by-shot; the bending magnet was modified from 107° to 253° (pretzel-type); the exploitable scanning width was increased from 40 to 80 cm. After this modification, the machine characteristics had to be verified. For the changed scan-mode the adjustment of pulse repetition rate, scan frequency, transport velocity, and beam cross-section in both directions, had to be established for the targeted low-dose treatments (about 100 Gy). Furthermore, the facility has now two separated beam-outlets, one for handling the prepacked materials on a transport system, the other one for bulk material handling (not yet installed) and for bremsstrahlung-mode experiments. First results with the accelerator after its transfer to the new site are reported; the radiation field characteristics after the modifications are given.     

Measurement of neutrons from an electron accelerator by rem-counter

In the measurement of neutrons from the medical electron accelerator by a rem counter, two problems disturb accurate measurements. One is the pile-up of signals produced by X-rays during each X-ray burst and the other is the increased counting loss caused by bunched nature of yielded neutrons. The time spectrum of neutrons measured by the rem counter 2202 D (manufactured by Studsvik) rises up to a maximum value by about 20 microseconds and then falls down exponentially with a time constant of about 90 microseconds. On the other hand, that of X-rays is roughly rectangular with several microseconds width. A time discriminating system was prepared to be combined with the rem counter, which was triggered by leading edge of electron beam pulses, rejected pile-up signals due to X-ray bursts, and counted pulses of neutrons in a specified time window. The system discriminated the pile-up enough to measure neutrons at a X-ray dose rate of at least 30 mGy/h. Nonparalyzable counting loss correction was practicable upto about 10 mSv/h for the beam pulse rate of 85 Hz, in which the dead time of the rem counter was estimated as 4 microseconds.     

Decomposition and decoloration of a direct dye by electron beam radiation

The wastewaters released by textile industries to the environment contain hazardous compounds like toxic refractory dye stuff at high concentration. In this study, electron beam irradiation-induced decoloration and decomposition of C.I. Direct Black 22 aqueous solutions were investigated. The influences of absorbed doses and initial dye concentration on the percent of decoloration, COD and pH of the solutions are described. The results show that the direct dye solutions can be effectively degraded by electron beam irradiation.     

Production and application of pulsed slow positron beam using an electron linac

Slow positron beam is quite useful for non-destructive material research. At the Electrotechnical Laboratory (ETL), an intense slow positron beam line has been constructed by exploiting an electron linac in order to carry out various experiments on material analysis. The beam line can generate pulsed positron beams of variable energy and variable pulse period. Various capabilities of the intense pulsed positron beam is presented, based on the experience at the ETL, and the prospect for the future is discussed.     

Novel hybrid technology for VOC control using an electron beam and catalyst

Noble (Pt, Pd) and transition metals (Mn, Cu) were employed as coupling catalysts to evaluate the toluene (1500 ppm C of initial concentration) removal efficiencies in the electron beam (EB)-catalyst coupling system. The toluene removal efficiency was 60.1% in the EB-only system at a dose of 8.7 kGy. In the presence of the metal catalysts (Pt, Pd, Cu and Mn), the removal efficiency was enhanced by 37, 33, 6 and 22%, respectively, compared to that of EB-only treatment. It was found that the selectivity to CO₂ with Pt and Pd coupling were relatively higher than those of Cu and Mn. Especially the CO₂ selectivity of EB-Pt coupling was significantly high at a relatively low absorbed dose. The removal efficiencies were compared for loading of catalyst and there was no significant difference among 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 wt%.     

Determination of PCBs in tetrachlorinated quinone using gas chromatography with electron capture detection

A simple, sensitive method for determining polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners in industrial product 2,3,5,6-tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone with GC/ECD detection has been developed. The method based on liquid-liquid extraction from tetrachlorinated quinone dissolved in N,N-dimethylformamide was found to be efficient for the determination of the levels of the investigated pollutants. A series of extraction and purification steps were designed for the sample pretreatment. The congener specific averages of recoveries were 82-96% for Aroclor 1242 and 1254 at a total spiking level of ca. 0.4 mug g(-1) sample. The reproducibilities of replicate determinations of different congeners were typically 5-19% except one with the average 13% R.S.D. (n=3). This method was applied to evaluate the background levels of PCBs in tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone, of which the corresponding PCB levels varied from 0.014 to 1.5 mug g(-1).     

Comparison of the decomposition characteristics of aromatic VOCs using an electron beam hybrid system

We applied a hybrid technique to assess the decomposition characteristics of ethylbenzene and toluene that annexed the catalyst technique with existing electron beam (EB) technology. The removal efficiency of ethylbenzene in the EB–catalyst hybrid turned out to be 30% greater than that of EB-only treatment. We concluded that ethylbenzene was decomposed more easily than toluene by EB irradiation. We compared the independent effects of the EB–catalyst hybrid and catalyst-only methods, and observed that the efficiency of the EB–catalyst hybrid demonstrated approximately 6% improvement for decomposing toluene and 20% improvement for decomposing ethylbenzene. The G-values for ethylbenzene increased with initial concentration and reactor type: for example, the G-values by reactor type at 2800 ppmC were 7.5–10.9 (EB-only) and 12.9–25.7 (EB–catalyst hybrid). We also observed a significant decrease in by-products as well as in the removal efficiencies associated with the EB–catalyst hybrid technique.     

Production of123I on linear electron accelerator using highly-enriched124Xe

Highly enriched xenon¹²⁴Xe /99.85%/ has been used for the experimental production of iodine¹²³I by the /,n/ reaction. As the radiation source served a 30–45 MeV electron beam produced by a linear accelerator and converted by a tungsten converter to -radiation. The yield and radionuclidic purity of¹²³I have been estimated, the content of isotopic impurities /¹²⁴I and¹²⁵I/ being for 30 MeV irradiations lower than 4×10^–3%/.     

Isolation of cellulose fibers from kenaf using electron beam

Cellulose fibers were isolated from a kenaf bast fiber using a electron beam irradiation (EBI) treatment. The methods of isolation were based on a hot water treatment after EBI and two-step bleaching processes. FT-IR spectroscopy demonstrated that the content of lignin and hemicellulose in the bleached cellulose fibers treated with various EBI doses decreased with increasing doses of EBI. Specifically, the lignin in the bleached cellulose fibers treated at 300 kGy, was almost completely removed. Moreover, XRD analyses showed that the bleached cellulose fibers treated at 300 kGy presented the highest crystallinity of all the samples treated with EBI. Finally, the morphology of the bleached fiber was characterized by SEM imagery, and the studies showed that the separated degree of bleached cellulose fibers treated with various EBI doses increased with an increase of EBI dose, and the bleached cellulose fibers obtained by EBI treatment at 300 kGy was separated more uniformly than the bleached cellulose fiber obtained by alkali cooking with non-irradiated kenaf fiber.     

Facile fabrication of microfluidic systems using electron beam lithography

We present two fast and generic methods for the fabrication of polymeric microfluidic systems using electron beam lithography: one that employs spatially varying electron-beam energy to expose to different depths a negative electron-beam resist, and another that employs a spatially varying electron-beam dose to differentially expose a bi-layer resist structure. Using these methods, we demonstrate the fabrication of various microfluidic unit structures such as microchannels of a range of geometries and also other more complex structures such as a synthetic gel and a chaotic mixer. These are made without using any separate bonding or sacrificial layer patterning and etching steps. The schemes are inherently simple and scalable, afford high resolution without compromising on speed and allow post CMOS fabrication of microfluidics. We expect them to prove very useful for the rapid prototyping of complete integrated micro/nanofluidic systems with sense and control electronics fabricated by upstream processes.     

Photoageing of an electron beam cured polyurethane acrylate resin

Photoageing reactions and kinetics on long wavelength irradiation of an electron beam (EB) cured resin are presented. The material studied is an aliphatic polyurethane acrylate resin. The chemical photoreactivity of the polymer was followed by infrared spectroscopy and UV-visible spectrophotometry. Two periods of photo-oxidation were found. In the first stage the reaction of acrylate functions remaining after EB polymerization leads to additional crosslinking and to oxidized products. The tip of an atomic force microscope was used as an indenter to follow the variation of stiffness at the surface resulting from crosslinking. In the second stage, oxidation rate decreases and photodegradation products are formed at a constant rate. A heterogeneous distribution of residual acrylates was evidenced across the coating thickness (thick films of 100 μm). An oxidation profile was also observed in the depth of the film after photoageing.     

Improvement of chaperone activity of 2-Cys peroxiredoxin using electron beam

The peroxiredoxin protein expressed in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 (PaPrx) is a typical 2-cysteine peroxiredoxin that has dual functions as both a thioredoxin-dependent peroxidase and molecular chaperone. As the function of PaPrx is regulated by its structural status, in the present study, we examined the effects of electron beam radiation on the structural modifications of PaPrx, as well as changes to PaPrx peroxidase and chaperone functions. It was found that the chaperone activity of PaPrx was increased approximately 3- to 4-fold at 2 kGy when compared to non-irradiated PaPrx, while its peroxidase activity decreased. This corresponded to a shift from the low molecular weight PaPrx species that acts as a peroxidase to the high molecular weight complex that functions as a chaperone, as detected using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. We also investigated the influence of the electron beam on physical protein properties such as hydrophobicity and secondary structure. The exposure of the PaPrx hydrophobic domains in response to irradiation reached a peak at 2 kGy and then decreased in a dose-dependent manner at higher doses. In addition, the exposure of β-sheet and random coil elements on the surface of PaPrx was significantly increased following irradiation with an electron beam, whereas exposure of α-helix and turn elements was decreased. These results suggest that irradiated PaPrx may be a potential candidate for use in bio-engineering systems and various industrial applications, due to its enhanced chaperone activity.     

Automated grain mapping using wide angle convergent beam electron diffraction in transmission electron microscope for nanomaterials

The grain size statistics, commonly derived from the grain map of a material sample, are important microstructure characteristics that greatly influence its properties. The grain map for nanomaterials is usually obtained manually by visual inspection of the transmission electron microscope (TEM) micrographs because automated methods do not perform satisfactorily. While the visual inspection method provides reliable results, it is a labor intensive process and is often prone to human errors. In this article, an automated grain mapping method is developed using TEM diffraction patterns. The presented method uses wide angle convergent beam diffraction in the TEM. The automated technique was applied on a platinum thin film sample to obtain the grain map and subsequently derive grain size statistics from it. The grain size statistics obtained with the automated method were found in good agreement with the visual inspection method.     

The determination of water in crude oil and transformer oil reference materials

The measurement of the amount of water in oils is of significant economic importance to the industrial community, particularly to the electric power and crude oil industries. The amount of water in transformer oils is critical to their normal function and the amount of water in crude oils affects the cost of the crude oil at the well head, the pipeline, and the refinery. Water in oil Certified Reference Materials (CRM) are essential for the accurate calibration of instruments that are used by these industries. Three NIST Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) have been prepared for this purpose. The water in these oils has been measured by both coulometric and volumetric Karl Fischer methods. The compounds (such as sulfur compounds) that interfere with the Karl Fischer reaction (interfering substances) and inflate the values for water by also reacting with iodine have been measured coulometrically. The measured water content of Reference Material (RM) 8506a Transformer Oil is 12.1+/-1.9 mg kg(-1) (plus an additional 6.2+/-0.9 mg kg(-1) of interfering substances). The measured water content of SRM 2722 Sweet Crude Oil, is 99+/-6 mg kg(-1) (plus an additional 5+/-2 mg kg(-1) of interfering substances). The measured water content of SRM 2721 Sour Crude Oil, is 134+/-18 mg kg(-1) plus an additional 807+/-43 mg kg(-1) of interfering substances. Interlaboratory studies conducted with these oil samples (using SRM 2890, water saturated 1-octanol, as a calibrant) are reported. Some of the possible sources of bias in these measurements were identified, These include: improperly calibrated instruments, inability to measure the calibrant accurately, Karl Fischer reagent selection, and volatilization of the interfering substances in SRM 2721.