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Currently, forty-one cesium, thirty-five lanthanum, thirty-two praseodymium, and thirty-one promethium isotopes have been observed and the discovery of these isotopes is described here. For each isotope a brief synopsis of the first refereed publication, including the production and identification method, is presented.
The 1996 evaluation for the A=127 mass chain (1996Ki01) has been revised. The experimental results from various decays and reactions for the A=127 mass chain have been compiled and evaluated. The nuclides covered in this evaluation are from {sup 127}Ag to {sup 127}Nd. The data are summarized and presented, together with adopted level schemes.
Certain pear-shaped nuclei are expected to have enhanced sensitivity to time-reversal and parity-violating interactions originating within the nuclear medium. In particular, Protactinium-229 is thought to be about 100,000 times more sensitive than Mercury-199 which currently sets some of the most stringent limits for these types of interactions. Several challenges would first have to be addressed in order to take advantage of this discovery potential. First, there is not currently a significant source of Pa-229 (1.5 day half-life); however, there are plans to harvest Pa-229 at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University. Second, the spin-5/2 nucleus of Pa-229 limits its coherence time while also making it sensitive to systematic effects related to local electric field gradients. On the other hand, this also give Pa-229 an additional source of signal in the form of a magnetic quadrupole moment (MQM) which violates the same symmetries as an EDM but is not observable in spin-1/2 systems. Third, in order to compensate for the small atom numbers and short coherence times, the Pa-229 atoms would have to be probed with exceptionally large electric and magnetic fields that may be possible if Pa-229 ions are embedded inside an optical crystal. We will describe some aspects of this concept using the stable Praseodymium-141 isotope as a surrogate which has the same nuclear spin and similar atomic structure of Pa-229.
High spin states of nuclei in the vicinity of neutron shell closure N = 82 and proton shell closure Z = 82 have been studied using the Clovere Ge detectors of Indian National Gamma Array. The shape driving effects of proton and neutron unique parity intruder orbitals for the structure of nuclei around the above shell closures have been investigated using light and heavy ion beams. Lifetime measurements of excited states in {sup 139}Pr have been done using pulsed-beam-γ coincidence technique. The prompt spectroscopy of {sup 207}Rn has been extended beyond the 181μs 13/2{sup +} isomer. Neutron-rich nuclei around {sup 132}Sn have been produced from proton induced fission of {sup 235}U and lifetime measurement of low-lying states of odd-odd {sup 132}I have been performed from offline decay.
We introduce the application of an automated online separation–direct analysis method, RAPID (Rapid Analysis of Post-Irradiation Debris), for the simultaneous measurement of both radioactive and stable fission isotopes from an irradiated highly-enriched uranium target. Developed for the measurement of the concentration and isotopic composition of over 40 elements down to the femtogram level, the RAPID method possesses the sensitivity, stability, and precision needed to achieve accurate, low-level analyses of elements of non-natural origin. The isotopic compositions and concentrations of key fission elements cesium, strontium, yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, and samarium have been measured repeatedly over a six-week period. The validity of these measurements was confirmed using ORIGEN (Oak Ridge Isotope GENeration), an isotope depletion and decay modeling software, to within 1–3%.
Purpose: This work verified simulations of beta-minus emitter Praseodymium-142 (Pr-142) for microsphere brachytherapy by performing absolute dose measurements for Pr 142 microspheres in a microcapillary as a simplified model for a single blood vessel for the treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). Methods: Pr-142 microspheres (mass: 0.169g, average diameter: 29.7±3.9μm) were activated by thermal neutron activation at the University of Missouri Research Reactor. Experimental setup consisted of a microsphere solution (initial activity 36.6mCi in 0.1ml of sterile water) within a glass microcapillary (internal and external diameter: 305μm and 453μm, respectively) placed for 51h in a custom made Gammex Solid Water™ phantom. GAFCHROMIC™ EBT2 film calibrated with a 6MeV electron beam was used to access the dose fall-off of microspheres. The microcapillary was modeled in MCNPX2.6 in order to compare with experiments. Results: The radial dose fall-off on the transverse plane due to scatter and attenuation in the solid water phantom was analyzed using ImageJ for both film and MCNPX2.6 simulations. Isodose analysis showed close agreement among the methods used, i.e. measurements and simulations agree within 3.9% for doses below 1600cGy. Experimental and simulated doses obtained at 0.5 cm radially from the source were 1547cGy and 1610cGy respectively. Discrepancies for points close to the microcapillary surface were observed between MCNPX2.6 and measurements due to film saturation for high doses. Dose due to Pr-142 3.7% gamma emission was below the threshold of detection for the film. Conclusion: A detailed dosimetric study was performed for Pr-142 glass microspheres within a single microcapillary. MCNPX2.6 simulations were verified by means of direct measurement. Based on these results, Pr-142 appears to be a viable choice of radionuclide for treating HCC.
Porous electrodes that conduct electrons, protons, and oxygen ions with dramatically expanded catalytic active sites can replace conventional electrodes with sluggish kinetics in protonic ceramic electrochemical cells. In this work, a strategy is utilized to promote triple conduction by facilitating proton conduction in praseodymium cobaltite perovskite through engineering non-equivalent B-site Ni/Co occupancy. Surface infrared spectroscopy is used to study the dehydration behavior, which proves the existence of protons in the perovskite lattice. The proton mobility and proton stability are investigated by hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) isotope exchange and temperature-programmed desorption. It is observed that the increased nickel replacement on the B-site has a positive impact on proton defect stability, catalytic activity, and electrochemical performance. This doping strategy is demonstrated to be a promising pathway to increase catalytic activity toward the oxygen reduction and water splitting reactions. The chosen PrNi 0.7 Co 0.3 O 3–δ oxygen electrode demonstrates excellent full-cell performance with high electrolysis current density of –1.48 A cm –2 at 1.3 V and a peak fuel-cell power density of 0.95 W cm –2 at 600 °C and also enables lower-temperature operations down to 350 °C, and superior long-term durability.
A γ-ray spectroscopy study of the (11{sup −}) isomers in {sup 194}Po and {sup 192}Po was performed at the velocity filter SHIP at GSI (Germany). Nuclei were produced in fusion-evaporation reactions and investigated in the detection set-up at the focal plane after the separator. Several new γ transitions were attributed to the isomers and detailed analysis of the first γ-γ coincidences for both isomers is being prepared. For the reaction {sup 56}Fe + {sup 141}Pr → {sup 197}At*, excitation functions for astatine and polonium isotopes were measured and compared with HIVAP calculations.
Systematic Spin Assignments were generally made by using the argument that the energy of levels is a function of neutron number. In the present systematics, the excitation energy of the levels incorporated the effect of nuclear deformation and signature splitting. The nuclear deformation changes toward the mid-shell, therefore a smooth variation in the excitation energy of the levels is observed towards the mid-shell, that intended to make systematics as a function of neutron number towards the mid-shell. Another term “signature splitting” that push the energy of levels for odd- and even-spin sequences up and down, caused the different energy variation pattern for odd- and even-spin sequences. The corrections made in the spin systematics were tested for the known spins of various isotopic chain. In addition, the inconsistency in spin assignments made by the spin systematics and other methods of the configuration πh{sub 11/2} ⊗ νh{sub 11/2} band belonging to {sup 112,114,116}Cs, {sup 126}Pr, and {sup 138}Pr, as an example, was resolved by the correctionmade in the present spin systematics.
The keV-neutron capture cross section and capture {gamma}-ray spectra of nuclides with a neutron magic number N= 82, {sup 139}La and {sup 142}Nd, were newly measured by the time-of-flight method. Capture {gamma}-rays were detected with an anti-Compton NaI(T1) spectrometer, and the pulse-height weighting technique was applied to derive the neutron capture cross section. The results were provided with our previous measurements of other nuclides around N= 82, {sup 140}Ce, {sup 141}Pr, {sup 143}Nd and {sup 145}Nd.
A spectrometer to measure nuclear level half-lives has been installed at the on-line isotope separator of the Kyoto University Reactor. This spectrometer consists of a LaBr3 scintillator, a thin plastic scintillator and an HPGe detector. Half-lives are deduced using the β-γ-γ delayed coincidence method. The prompt-time distribution curves measured with the spectrometer give a time resolution (FWHM) of 600 ps for 100-keV γ rays. This resolution means that half-lives down to the subnanosecond range or shorter can be measured. We reported recent measurements of the half-life of {sup 149}Pr and {sup 149}Nd. Some of the more interesting results include the first determination of the half-lives of {sup 149}Pr levels at 86.5 and 125.6 keV, which are 4.2(5) ns and 1.0(2) ns, respectively. In addition, the data indicate that the half-life of the 270.8-keV level in {sup 149}Nd is not 5.1(3) ns as reported previously, but 0.42(3) ns.