Use of a Cyclone 18/9 for Radiolabelling of Nanoparticles

Nanosafety research requires versatile tools for detection of nanoparticles in living and non-living media within a wide range of concentration. This is a great challenge due to the very low environmentally relevant concentration of (engineered) nanoparticles expected and the presence of background concentrations of the respective elements. Radiolabelling of nanoparticles offers an excellent alternative to enable nanoparticle detection in these complex media down to trace amounts. Even online in situ tracing and visualisation techniques are accessible.

In this work we present different techniques for the radiolabelling of nanoparticles (Ag⁰, TiO₂, CeO₂, MWCNT) including activation of NP, radiosynthesis of NP, radiolabelling of NP, self-diffusion of radioisotopes into NP and recoil labelling. A cyclotron Cyclone 18/9 was used for the radiolabelling of the nanoparticles via proton activation (Ti-48(p,n)V-48, Ce-140(p,2n)Pr-139  Ce-139), Be-7 - recoil labelling (Li 7(p,n)Be-7) and the radioisotope production. Different targets were developed and different labelling strategies were tested. As a result, labelling yields and labelling stabilities were determined and the influence of the labelling procedure on the particle properties was evaluated.

These radiolabelled nanoparticles are successfully used in comprehensive environmental studies. Our recent studies with application of the radiolabelled nanoparticles focus on nanoparticle uptake in plants, distribution and mobility of nanoparticles in sewage sludge, and fate of nanoparticles in wastewater treatment processes.