Chapter 14
Hot Atom-Nuclear Reaction
14.1 Introduction
There are many good books dealing with Nuclear chemistry but very few deal with
nuclear reactions which can be of interest to chemists, especially the effect of nuclear
transformation on the chemical nature of the product formed during a nuclear reaction. In this chapter, we shall mainly be discussing this type of nuclear reaction.
The study of the chemistry of atoms produced by nuclear reactions is often called
“Hot atom” chemistry, and includes, for example, the effect of nuclear collisions
on the chemical state of the target element. It is well established that when a neutron interacts with a target nucleus, some nuclear adjustment takes place inside the
nucleus of the target and finally one or cascades of γ -rays of various energies are
emitted. This emission causes the recoil to the target nucleus. The recoil energy
is of the order of 100 eV which is much higher than the chemical bond energy
(1–5 eV). Thus, the momentum imparted to a nucleus in a nuclear reaction with a
charged particle or a fast neutron or a slow neutron is invariably sufficient to result in
the rupture of any chemical bonds holding the atom in a molecule. A similar type of
bond rupture has also been observed in chemical compounds containing radioactive
atoms which decay either by α, β or by isomeric transition or by electron capture.
It is, therefore, interesting to examine the consequence of such nuclear reactions on
the chemical nature of products formed in a nuclear reaction.
14.2 Szilard-Chalmers Reactions
Fermi found that when a covalently bonded element (atomic number up to 30) is
irradiated in a Ra/Be neutron source, a radioactive nuclide is obtained, which has
different chemical properties from those of the parent and can easily be separated
from the parent. Later, in 1935, Szilard in collaboration with Chalmers extended
this work to other higher atomic number elements. They stated that, in general, the
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Sharon and M. Sharon, Nuclear Chemistry,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62018-9_14
217
Hot Atom-Nuclear Reaction
14.1 Introduction
There are many good books dealing with Nuclear chemistry but very few deal with
nuclear reactions which can be of interest to chemists, especially the effect of nuclear
transformation on the chemical nature of the product formed during a nuclear reaction. In this chapter, we shall mainly be discussing this type of nuclear reaction.
The study of the chemistry of atoms produced by nuclear reactions is often called
“Hot atom” chemistry, and includes, for example, the effect of nuclear collisions
on the chemical state of the target element. It is well established that when a neutron interacts with a target nucleus, some nuclear adjustment takes place inside the
nucleus of the target and finally one or cascades of γ -rays of various energies are
emitted. This emission causes the recoil to the target nucleus. The recoil energy
is of the order of 100 eV which is much higher than the chemical bond energy
(1–5 eV). Thus, the momentum imparted to a nucleus in a nuclear reaction with a
charged particle or a fast neutron or a slow neutron is invariably sufficient to result in
the rupture of any chemical bonds holding the atom in a molecule. A similar type of
bond rupture has also been observed in chemical compounds containing radioactive
atoms which decay either by α, β or by isomeric transition or by electron capture.
It is, therefore, interesting to examine the consequence of such nuclear reactions on
the chemical nature of products formed in a nuclear reaction.
14.2 Szilard-Chalmers Reactions
Fermi found that when a covalently bonded element (atomic number up to 30) is
irradiated in a Ra/Be neutron source, a radioactive nuclide is obtained, which has
different chemical properties from those of the parent and can easily be separated
from the parent. Later, in 1935, Szilard in collaboration with Chalmers extended
this work to other higher atomic number elements. They stated that, in general, the
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Sharon and M. Sharon, Nuclear Chemistry,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62018-9_14
217