Intermediates and interfaces in materials and energy technologies probed by beta decayed spin spectroscopy and other physical methods

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An understanding of radiation-induced processes (radiolysis) relevant to environmentally friendly health- and energy-related applications is important for the further development of these applications and for the development of new applications. Certain radiolysis processes in ionic liquids and supercritical fluids under hydrothermal conditions and at the interfaces are not understood. Although nanomaterials have been proposed as radiosensitizers in radiobiology, the ionizing radiation chemistry at the interface of liquids and nano- or microstructures is poorly understood. The NSERC Discovery Grant will help my group fill knowledge gaps in our understanding of such fluids and interfaces over the next five years. We will use state-of-the-art pump probe methods and transient beta-decay-based spectroscopy techniques, along with a new analytical chemistry technique we are developing based on Cherenkov radiation, to probe reactive intermediates and the chemical environment under irradiation and under a wide range of thermodynamic conditions, from extremely cold to high temperature and pressure conditions. We have developed many state-of-the-art setups to interface the particle beams required for our studies, and we will continue to develop more for the proposed studies in this research program. Radiation effects at the interface of water and solid material are important for radiobiology. It is also important to understand the radiation effects in the coolants of a reactor in the presence of corrosion products, as well as in environments relevant to nuclear waste storage. All of these require a thorough understanding of the radiation effects at the interface of different materials using fast time resolved methods. We will provide experimental data and tools to facilitate this understanding. A reliable set of experimental data that can be used to develop descriptions of the chemical nature of radiation, both during highly nonhomogeneous spatial non-equilibrium stages and later during homogenous stages of energy deposition by radiation, is critical. We will provide information for a wide range of reactive species created on the sub-picosecond time scale to the microsecond time scale. Such reactive species are involved as precursors of wanted and unwanted reactions not only in radiobiology and nuclear applications but also in green chemistry applications. Our results are critical as inputs for complex simulations conducted by groups that are working to create reliable predictive models for radiation processes. Our research program is challenging because it requires multifaceted investigations. It includes developing new spectroscopic and analytical methods to probe simultaneous harsh radiation and thermodynamic conditions in situ, using exotic spectroscopic techniques, using ultrafast techniques in the condensed phase, investigating species that are very short-lived, and continually developing target vessels for very different experimental conditions.