Method of capturing or trapping zinc using zinc getter materials
A method of trapping or capturing zinc is disclosed. In particular, the method comprises a step of contacting a zinc vapor with a zinc getter material. The zinc getter material comprises nanoparticles and a metal substrate.
1. A method of capturing or trapping zinc, the method comprising
contacting a zinc vapor with a zinc getter material comprising nanoparticles and a metal substrate.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the zinc vapor comprises a zinc radioisotope.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the zinc vapor comprises zinc-65.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the nanoparticles comprise cobalt, gold, or a combination thereof.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the nanoparticles comprise cobalt and gold.
6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the nanoparticles have a core-shell configuration.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the nanoparticles comprise a metal alloy.
8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the metal substrate comprises copper, tin, chromium, or a combination thereof.
9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the metal substrate comprises copper, a bronze, or a stainless steel.
10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the nanoparticles form discrete particles on the metal substrate.
11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the nanoparticles cover from 5% to 90% of the surface area of the metal substrate.
12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein before the contacting step, the nanoparticles have an average particle size of from 5 nm to 500 nm.
13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein before the contacting step, the nanoparticles having a multimodal size distribution.
14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the nanoparticles have a first size distribution having an average size of from 2 nm to 50 nm and a second size distribution having an average size of from greater than 50 nm to 150 nm.
15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein after the contacting step, the nanoparticles have a multimodal size distribution.
16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the nanoparticles have a first size distribution having an average size of from 2 nm to 75 nm and a second size distribution having an average size of from greater than 50 nm to 175 nm.
17. The method according to claim 14 , wherein after the contacting step, the nanoparticles of the first size distribution increase in size by from 5% to 100%.
18. The method according to claim 1 , wherein after the contacting step, at least some of the nanoparticles containing zinc have a size of from 250 nm to 700 nm.
19. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the nanoparticles comprise gold and wherein after the contacting step, the weight ratio of zinc to gold is from 0.01 to 5.
20. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the nanoparticles comprise cobalt and wherein after the contacting step, the weight ratio of zinc to cobalt is from 0.5 to 80.
21. The method according to claim 1 , wherein after the contacting step, an X-ray diffraction pattern indicates Au peaks at a diffraction angle (2θ) of 21° and 221°.
22. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the nanoparticles are formed by nucleation on the metal substrate.
23. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the zinc vapor is extracted from a tritium-producing burnable absorber rod.