Extremely rapid isotropic irradiation of nanoparticles with ions generated in situ by a nuclear reaction

Jan Havlik, Vladimira Petrakova, Jan Kucka, Helena Raabova, Dalibor Panek, Vaclav Stepan, Zuzana Zlamalova Cilova, Philipp Reineck, Jan Stursa, Jan Kucera, Martin Hruby () and Petr Cigler ()
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Jan Havlik: Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS
Vladimira Petrakova: Czech Technical University in Prague
Jan Kucka: Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the CAS
Helena Raabova: Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS
Dalibor Panek: Czech Technical University in Prague
Vaclav Stepan: Nuclear Physics Institute of the CAS
Zuzana Zlamalova Cilova: University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague
Philipp Reineck: RMIT University
Jan Stursa: Nuclear Physics Institute of the CAS
Jan Kucera: Nuclear Physics Institute of the CAS
Martin Hruby: Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the CAS
Petr Cigler: Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Energetic ions represent an important tool for the creation of controlled structural defects in solid nanomaterials. However, the current preparative irradiation techniques in accelerators show significant limitations in scaling-up, because only very thin layers of nanoparticles can be efficiently and homogeneously irradiated. Here, we show an easily scalable method for rapid irradiation of nanomaterials by light ions formed homogeneously in situ by a nuclear reaction. The target nanoparticles are embedded in B2O3 and placed in a neutron flux. Neutrons captured by 10B generate an isotropic flux of energetic α particles and 7Li+ ions that uniformly irradiates the surrounding nanoparticles. We produced 70 g of fluorescent nanodiamonds in an approximately 30-minute irradiation session, as well as fluorescent silicon carbide nanoparticles. Our method thus increased current preparative yields by a factor of 102–103. We envision that our technique will increase the production of ion-irradiated nanoparticles, facilitating their use in various applications.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06789-8

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