Development of a radiotracer method for measuring CO2 uptake by cement - wood mixtures

Radiotracer method was developed for measuring¹⁴CO₂ content in cement-wood mixtures. The carbon dioxide used for the treatment was labeled with¹⁴C, a -emitting radioisotope, and samples were measured by -scintillation and liquid scintillation techniques. Test samples were prepared in the laboratory with various compositions and treated with labeled¹⁴CO₂. The tracer was released from Ba¹⁴CO₃ by lactic acid with total activity of 37 MBq. Selectivity of the technique allows to distinguish the carbon dioxide bound during the treatment and bound previously from the mbient air. Sensitivity of the method is higher than that of traditional methods and allowed determination of CO₂ content in each component of the mixture. It is 63 ng. if measured by -scintillation detector and 1.6 ng, if measured by liquid scintillation. Accuracy of the method is 0.3%.