Buying Technetium from Onyxmet - Nuclear chemistry

Yes, I bought the technetium sample from Onyxmet. No, it is not sponsored. Here are my analysis results from a nuclear lab :)
Instagram: / simons.chemiebaukasten
german: / @simonschemiebaukasten
TikTok: / simons.chemie
Patreon: / simonschemiebaukasten
Animation by Joenna: / joenna_art
Limit for Radionuclides: [www.bgbau-medien.de/handlungs...](www.bgbau-medien.de/handlungs...)
*0:00 Intro*
*1:04 Optics*
*1:56 Becquerel*
*2:17 Gamma Measurement*
*3:43 X-ray Measurement*
*4:48 Origin of the Ru X-Rays*
*6:04 Calculation of the Amount*
*8:23 Goodbye :)*
#radioactivity #chemistry #technetium

[@James-xu3vc]

Technetiumly speaking, this sample was legit 😂❤❤

[@christopherleubner6633]

These were source foils that were used inside of soviet era IMS chemical detectors. They went with tc rather than nickel 63 which is more commonly used isotope simply because they had lots of it on hand. The Tc coated gold foil was 10x3.5mm, and coated on both sides in an ionization chamber.

[@lerk.]

Handling the spicy rocks, so we don't have to!

[@GRBtutorials]

Considering the disclaimer at the beginning, I thought you’d unseal the sample and perform, say, beta or mass spectrometry, or even chemical tests.

[@SimonsNuclearchemistry]

That was my last Option, if the non destructive methodes couldn't proof the presence of Technetium but since I paid out my own pocket I wanted to avoid that😅

[@ghlscitel6714]

Mein Technetium 99m hat die Krankenkasse bezahlt.

[@Havron]

Great video and excellent analysis, Simon! Thanks for the early post. :-) So I also did a similar analysis (via Raysid) with my own such sample, and came to the same conclusions. It's real! :-D However, there is one possibility that you did not address: What if it's just ruthenium plated over gold and laced with a different pure beta emitter to activate the XRF, say C-14 or Ni-63? I believe that I have ruled this out myself as well, but would like to hear your thoughts on it before I state why I think this isn't so?

[@SimonsNuclearchemistry]

Interesting :D in the chase of nickel, I would expect Nickel XRF or its daughter. Ofc that would not be the case for C-14. I think at that point it would be cheaper to sell real Technetium than to fake it. Like if you can deposit C-14 on Ruthenium in these activities, getting your hands on Technetium should be quite easy. But please tell me your thoughts^^

[@Havron]

@@SimonsNuclearchemistry Ha, yep, I too came to the conclusion that, primarily, it would probably be needlessly complicated and likely more expensive to fake this in such a way. :-P But in terms of the data, I saw a very clear bremsstrahlung continuum in my Raysid spectrum which was consistent with the average and maximum beta energies of Tc-99. Furthermore, it would seem that all other common pure beta emitters with a reasonable half-life for this purpose - we would know by now if it was something short-lived, which would also definitely be more expensive - emit at either too low or too high an energy to produce such a brem curve. For example, Sr-90 beta energies are too high and so would shift the brem peak significantly to the right, while C-14 is likewise too low. And in fact Ni-63 betas wouldn't even have enough energy to produce the gold XRF you are seeing in the first place. Cs-135 is fairly close, but you would need a lot of it and, again, managing such complex radioactive fakery definitely sounds more expensive than just using real Tc-99. (-:

[@javamocha]

There may be enough material there to detect the superconducting transition of Tc at 7.46 K. A cryostat magnetometer should be able to show you that (Like a MPMS). It will be challenging to get good thermal contact if the glass ampoule is filled with argon because if will freeze.

[@s0rc3]

Wouldn't it be easier to just excite the Tc with X-rays and measure XRF or photoelectrons (XPS) or is the deposited film only very dilute Tc?

[@SimonsNuclearchemistry]

I know what you mean ^^ we don't have that type of machine in our lab😅 we tried to build one with the XRay detector and our Am-241 source but so far it didn't work

[@Havron]

I actually tried this with my own sample of the same metal! I used the gammas from my Cs-137 check source to activate the Tc metal into x-ray fluorescence, and took a long spectrum in lead with my Raysid. I _think_ it worked..? I was able to _juuust_ barely pull out of the bremsstrahlung continuum what appears to be the Tc XRF Ka peak at ~18 keV. However, it was really just a raising up of the entire overlapping brem+XRF hump such that it did indeed now peak at that energy value, rather than a sharp XRF peak emerging from the brem (not that peaks are ever sharp on such a device). I would not call my results conclusive, but they were quite encouraging! I'd like to try and find a way to do this experiment even better.

[@triton6490]

Great, I may buy one now that I know it's real. Also unrelated question, how is Na22 produced in a lab? I did some research and can't seem to find anything.

[@SimonsNuclearchemistry]

If you irradiate Magnesium with either protons or deuterons. With deuterons the Mg-24 can do an (d,alpha) reaction :)

[@murphybed7919]

Super cool

[@kjpmi]

Pft. I was buying exotic shit (including Tc) from Onyxmet back in 2013. They are legit.

[@SocialDownclimber]

Are you going to store it under inert gas? Might get a bit scrappy if you leave it exposed to air.

[@SimonsNuclearchemistry]

I don't know what type of Gas is filled in the Glas ampule

[@Jhowson4]

Stupid question of the day. Why are you able to see the Ru XRF line but not the Tc XRF line. Is the Tc beta not able to excite a neighboring Tc atom?

[@SimonsNuclearchemistry]

Thats a good question! The occurance probability of the Tc Xray is just so small. Yes that excitement of neighboring atoms should happen sometimes but we never know which of the 43 electrons are excited from the neighboring Tc Atom. And it has to be the one of the inner two for XRF to be visible^^. The probability of a Technetium decaying into Ruthenium is 100% and then there is a chance (idk how high. Its in the video) that that recoil knocks out the inner most electrons. Its a numbers game ;D but you see why we have more Ruthenium XRF?

[@Jhowson4]

@@SimonsNuclearchemistry That does make sense, I think I was confused by that section of the video because you seemed to be only talking about the decay product Ru. Follow on question, How do you determine the xray emission probability. I see lots of charts that just give the energies, or plots that show an XRF spectra with a particular xray source voltage and current. Clearly based on the spectra the emission lines have varying intensity and thus varying production probability, but I cant seem to find anything that defines the actual probability specific to XRF type excitation.

[@DavidSchmitt]

How did you make sure they didn't sent you a doctored sample for review?

[@SimonsNuclearchemistry]

I first bought it privately and after I received it, I asked, if [he] wanted a analysis done for it :D otherwise I would have analysed it and published it either way.

[@DavidSchmitt]

@@SimonsNuclearchemistry nicely done!

[@bitonic589]

Why's everything overpriced on Onyxmet? $270 just for some gallium? $40 just for a small ball of helium?

[@SimonsNuclearchemistry]

Well you are looking at 5N Gallium. Of course its going to be expensive. (Every additional ,9 after 3N is going to increase the price VERY MUCH) Onyxmet is usually a very cheap Option to get chemicals.

[@bitonic589]

@@SimonsNuclearchemistry is there a way to get 3N gallium in samples like that? no reason to have almost 100% purity

[@SimonsNuclearchemistry]

@@bitonic589 i think I went for the 10g 4N sample for 10€ which they also sell. You can search after each Element on their website^^