Radioactive characterization of charcoal as a tool in identifying fossil contamination

In the pyrolysis process carried out to obtain charcoal from plants, a concentration of the radionuclides found in trace amounts in the raw material is produced. This fact would influence its possible uses. Radioactive characterization of a wide set of charcoal samples from different provenances was...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of radioanalytical and nuclear chemistry Vol. 317; no. 1; pp. 451 - 461
Main Authors Rubio Montero, M. P., Carrasco Lourtau, A. M., Jurado Vargas, M., Durán Valle, C. J.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cham Springer International Publishing 01.07.2018
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Alpha rays
Carbon 14
Cesium isotopes
Charcoal
Chemistry
Chemistry and Materials Science
Contamination
Diagnostic Radiology
Gamma rays
Hadrons
Heavy Ions
Inorganic Chemistry
Mass spectrometry
Nuclear Chemistry
Nuclear Physics
Nuclides
Physical Chemistry
Pyrolysis
Radioisotopes
Raw materials
Scientific imaging
Spectroscopy
Radiocarbon
Charcoal
Gamma spectrometry
Alpha-particle spectrometry
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Summary:In the pyrolysis process carried out to obtain charcoal from plants, a concentration of the radionuclides found in trace amounts in the raw material is produced. This fact would influence its possible uses. Radioactive characterization of a wide set of charcoal samples from different provenances was analysed. Activity concentrations of the radionuclides from the 238 U and 232 Th series, and also for 40 K, 134 Cs and 137 Cs nuclides were obtained by gamma-ray and alpha-particle spectrometry. A discussion of these results is included comparing them with coal. A possible contamination of charcoal samples by fossil matter, such as coal, was studied via 14 C analysis carried out by accelerator mass spectrometry.
ISSN:0236-5731
1588-2780
DOI:10.1007/s10967-018-5904-3