Contact

Sebastian Friedrich

s.friedrichAthzdr.de
Phone: +49 351 260 3154

Ph.D. topic


Speciation of trivalent lanthanides and actinides in the human digestive system under the influence of decorporation agents


Ph.D. student:
Sebastian Friedrich
Supervisor:
Prof. Dr. Thorsten Stumpf, Dr. Astrid Barkleit (HZDR)
Departement:
Grenzflächenprozesse
Period:
12/2020–11/2023


The work is part of the RADEKOR project. Here, the speciation and transfer of radionuclides (RN) in the human digestive system is investigated, taking into account decorporation agents. Incorporated RNs pose a radio- and chemotoxic hazard to humans. If incorporation takes place via the gastrointestinal tract, there is a risk of RNs being deposited mainly in the skeleton and liver, and to a lesser extent in the lungs, spleen and muscles. To prevent this storage, the excretion of RNs can be promoted by means of decortication agents.

A number of requirements are placed on the decorporation agents. They must be stable under physiological conditions (salt load, pH value, enzymes) and form stable complexes with the RNs. Furthermore, the decorporation agents must be able to replace biological ligands (e.g. phosphates, sulphates, mucin, amylase) in the complexes.

In the course of the work, decorporation agents of different types are to be investigated. Their suitability as ligands for Cm(III) as well as the non-radioactive analogue Eu(III) will be investigated under different aspects. Methodically, SC-XRD, NMR spectroscopy, TRLFS, potentiometry, calorimetry and FT-IR will be applied.

Reference

C. Wilke, A. Barkleit, T. Stumpf, A. Ikeda-Ohno (2017) "Speciation of the trivalent f-elements Eu(III) and Cm(III) in digestive media" J. Inorg. Biochem., 175, 248.