Radiochemistry

Definition

Radiochemistry is a field of chemistry concerned with radioactive materials. Research objectives of radiochemistry include the following:

• 1. Distributions and transformations of radioactive nuclides

• 2. Synthesis of artificial nuclides

• 3. Separation and purification of radioactive isotopes

• 4. Chemical properties of radioactive elements and their compounds

• 5. Chemical action of knock-on atoms associated with radioactive decay

• 6. Utilization of radioactive isotopes, i.e., utilization as a radioactive tracer or for isotope dating

This field was launched by the discovery of radioactivity by Becquerel in 1896.

Overview

Radioactive isotopes transform via nuclear decay and emit mainly three types of radiation, which are called alpha, beta, or gamma radiation.

• 1. Alpha radiation – the emission of an alpha particle (which contains 2 protons and 2 neutrons) from an atomic nucleus. When this occurs, the atom’s atomic mass will decrease by 4 units and atomic number will decrease by 2.

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