Neutron Activation Analysis for Life Sciences
Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics
The Sector of Neutron Activation Analysis and Applied Research Summer practice in JINR Dubna 06-23.09.2016
Supervised by: Prof. M.V Frontasyeva and Dr. W. Badawy
Participants Josiel de Jesús Barrios Cossio, Cuba
Dimitrijević Aleksandra, Serbia
Dmitrović Svetlana, Serbia
Zdolsek Nikola, Serbia
Alexander Naa’ilah, South Africa
Biyela Talente, South Africa
Yende Nomcebo Fikile, South Africa
Mdunjana Ntandokazi, South Africa
Kobese Nokubonga, South Africa
Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) • NAA is a method for determination of elements based on
conversion stable nuclei to other, mostly radioactive nuclei via nuclear reactions and measurements of reaction products [Bode, 1996]
• NAA was discovered in 1936 by G. Hevesy (Hungary) and H. Levi (Denmark)
Fundamentals of NAA
Relative Standardization
Absolute method
- Requires precise knowledge of (E)
- Accurate measurement of (E) and
- It requires standards to have all the elements
- The error mainly depends on ms and Anc
m = Anc e- te,s ms
Anc,s e- te
Absolute Standardization
Applications
Advantages
• Wide possibilities of applications
• Non destructive analysis
• Multi-element analysis
• Sensitivity to parts-per-billion for specific elements
• Customizable analysis
Limitations
• Need for nuclear reactor
• Work with radioactive materials
• Time of analysis
• Sample preference
Comparison between NAA and other techniques
• Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS)
The study of absorption spectra by means of passing electromagnetic radiation through an atomic medium that is selectively absorbing; this produces pure electronic transitions free from vibrational and rotational transitions
• X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis (XFA)
X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis is a widely used method of elemental analysis providing both qualitative and quantitative compositional information.This analysis is widely used for elemental analysis and chemical analysis, particularly in the investigation of metals, glass, ceramics and building materials, and for research in geochemistry, forensic science and archaeology.
• Synchrotron radiation
Synchrotron radiation is the name given to the radiation which occurs when charged particles are accelerated in a curved path or orbit. Classically, any charged particle which moves in a curved path or is accelerated in a straight-line path will emit electromagnetic radiation.
The disadvantages of using this methods above is that they are expensive, difficult to calibrate and other factors like sample characteristic, availability and accuracy and precise.
While INAA is relatively low on the prices when we compare it to these techniques
IBR – 2 Reactor in JINR
Parameters of IBR – 2:
- Average power 2 MW
- PuO2 fuel
-Rotation rate, rev/min: main reflector 600 auxiliary reflector 300
- Neutron density flux 1016
n·m-2
·s-1
Neutron energy distribution:
- Thermal 0.025 eV-0.5 eV
- Epithermal 0.5 eV – 100 keV
- Fast 0.1 MeV – 25 Me
Ch1-Ch4 –irradiation channels, S- intermediate storage, DCV- directional control valves, L- loading unit, RCB- radiochemical glove-cell, U- unloading unit, SU- separate unit, SM- storage magazine, R- repacking unit, D- detector, CB- control board, R1-R3- the rooms where the system is located.
Radioanalytical complex REGATA
Types of NAA
• Destructive
(radiochemical) – the resulting radioactive sample is chemically decomposed and the elements are chemically separated.
Non-destructive (instrumental) – sample is kept intact and the radionuclides are determined, taking advantage of the differences in decay rates via measurements at different decay intervals
Instrumental neutron activation analysis
Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) is used to determine the concentration of trace and major elements in a variety of matrices. A sample is subjected to a neutron flux and radioactive nuclides are produced. As these radioactive nuclides decay, they emit gamma rays whose energies are characteristic for each nuclide.
Measurement of content of samples
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Sample preparation
Neutron irradiation of samples
Decay of radioactivity
Decay periods
Measurement of γ-ray spectra of samples and standards with HPGe-detector
Processing of the γ-ray spectra using GENIE 2000
Calculation of element content
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Sample preparation
Irradiation of Samples
• The principle involved in NAA, is the irradiation of a sample with a neutron source that produces specific radionuclides.
• Different sources of neutrons can be used: • Reactor (IBR-2)
• Fusors
• Isotope Sources
• Gas Discharge Tubes
• This results in characteristic gamma rays emitted by the decaying radionuclides. The gamma rays are quantitatively measured using gamma spectroscopy.
• Data analysis yields concentrations of major, minor, trace and rare earth elements.
Case Study (Joint project between JINR & SA)
• A joint study between University of the Western Cape (RSA) and Frank Laboratory for Neutron Physics (JINR).
• Dr Paul Eze, Dr Marina Frontasyeva and Prof. Leslie Petrik
• Elemental Composition of Fly Ash: A comparitive study using nuclear and related analytical techniques.
A minimum requirements
- Determine the position of peaks in the spectrum
- Estimate the areas of the peaks (together with uncertainties)
- Calculate the energy of the gamma-ray each peak represents
- Correct for counting losses due to dead time and random summing
-Make corrections for decay from a reference time
- Convert peak areas to activity or concentration, either by reference to an
efficiency function or by direct comparison with a reference spectrum
Processing of Gamma-Ray Spectra
In general, a full computer spectrum analysis will consist of three phases:
(1) set up data libraries for energy, peak width and efficiency
calibration and for sample analysis
(2) use spectra of reference sources to generate energy, width and
efficiency calibration data files
(3) analyse sample spectra by referring to those data libraries and
calibration files
Software systems: Genie 2000™ (Canberra) and GammaVision™ (ORTEC) -Allow complete calibration of energy, peak width and detector efficiency -Able to search through a spectrum seeking out statistically significant peaks, assigning them to nuclides, and calculating sample activity
GENIE 2000 - the program allows minimizing human involvement in routine long-term measurements of the spectra of the induced activity - simultaneous measurements are conducted
for visualization of information, the program automatically provides the file with areas of interest and displays them in the window of Genie-2000 -areas of interest are graphical peak intervals found by the program while spectra are being processed
results are stored in a file with the values of the activities of identified isotopes and the minimal detectable activity of these isotopes
calculation of elemental concentrations in the samples is performed by a relative method using the Concentration program - the values of the calculated concentrations of elements with uncertainties of calculations and minimal detectable concentrations for the given experimental conditions are stored in the NAA database
CASE STUDY
STUDY OF SPIDER SILK COMPOSITION BY NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS
Native Spider Silk
• Remarkable mechanical properties
• Biocompatible
• Biodegradable
• Production of native ss on industrial level failed due to cannibalistic nature of spiders
• Recombinant DNA technology for production of SS proteins
Composition of spider silk
Core-shell structured fiber:
1) 2 main proteins-spindroins (Gly, Ala, Pro)
• Ala domains form β-sheat secondary structure
• Gly-Gly-Ala and Gly-Pro-Gly-X-X domains form 31 helices
2) ‘skin’
3) Glycoprotein coat
4) Lipid layer
The first NAA of spider silk
• Spider silk from Pholcus phalangoides spider
• Basement of one of the buildings in Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences
• Spider silk as a potential biomonitoring material
Element mg/kg %
Na 7110 3
Mg 9060 3
Al (P) 20100 2
Si 62600 34
S 6000 34
Cl 7720 7
K 10200 10
Ca 5.0 5
Sc 7.0 3
Ti 1680 11
V 93.2 6
Cr 966 4
Mn 559 5
Fe 38200 5
Ni 366 8
Co 194 6
Cu 507 30
Zn 15800 7
Se 10.9 8
As 55.8 5
Br 59.7 2
Rb 23.1 17
Sr 148 9
Zr 850 30
Nb 58.2 34
Element mg/kg %
Mo 58.8 31
Ag 6.17 18
Cd 1.43 10
Sb 40.5 4
I 376 14
Ba 741 5
Cs 3.2 3
La 24 4
Ce 144 4
Nd 29.6 24
Sm 5.62 31
Eu 2.94 30
Gd 2.75 9
Tb 0.584 4
Dy 3.7 30
Tm 0.022 30
Yb 4.64 31
Lu 1.4 68
Hf 23.7 8
Ta 5.41 2
W 260 30
Au 0.23 30
Hg 3.23 16
Th 4.91 2
U 8.77 3
Preliminary results
Perspectives
• Comparison of spider silk with the dust collected from the same place
• More detailed analysis of composition of spider silk
• Comparison in composition of fibers between the species
• Influence of diet on composition of fibers
• Using NAA to study the aforementioned research points as an analytical technique.
Conclusion
• Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) is a useful method for the simultaneous determination of major, minor and trace elements of geological, environmental and biological samples in ppb-ppm range with or without chemical separation
Acknowledgments • Prof. Marina V. Frontasyeva
• Dr. Wael Badawy
• S.S. Pavlov
• Prof Octavian Duliu
• Nikita Sergeevich
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Thank you for your paying attention
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