Nuclear chemistry

Nuclear chemistry is a subfield of chemistry dealing with radioactivity, nuclear processes and nuclear properties. It may be divided into the following four categories:

• Radiochemistry which is the chemistry of radioactive materials, in radiochemistry it is oftein the case that the radioactive isotopes of elements are used to study the properties and chemical reactions of ordinary non radioactive (oftein within radioachemistry the absence of radioactivity leads to a substance being described as being inactive as the isotopes are stable). An example of a biological use of radiochemistry would be the study of DNA using radioactive phosphorus-32.
• Radiation chemistry is the study of the chemical effects of radiation on matter, this is very different to radiochemistry as no radioactivity needs to be present in the material which is being chemically changed as a result of the radiation. An example of radiation chemistry would be the conversion of water into hydrogen gas and hydrogen peroxide.
• The application of techniques from chemistry to study nuclear reactions such as fission and fusion — see also nuclear physics.
• The area of Isotopic chemistry could be included in this subtopic, but the use of the isotope effect to investigate the mechanisms of reactions through the modification of the kinetics which occurs upon replacement of one isotope with another has become a standard method within organic chemistry so it best that the isotope effect is considered within the contex of organic chemistry. In short the replacement of normal hydrogens (protons) within a chemical compound with deuterium causes the rate of molecular vibration (C-H, N-H and O-H bonds show this) to decrease, this then can lead to a decrease in the reaction rate if the rate determining step involves the breaking of a bond between hydrogen and another atom, hence if upon replacement of protons for deuteriums the reaction changes in rate it is reasonable to assume that the breaking of the bond to hydrogen is part of the step which determines the rate.
• Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy uses the net spin of nuclei in a substances upon energy absorption, and is used to identify molecules.
• The chemistry associated with any part of the nuclear fuel cycle, eg advanced reprocessing.

See also Important publications in nuclear chemistry Template:BranchesofChemistry