Radiochemistry Teaching and Research at the University of California at Irvine

Abstract

The field of radiochemistry is emphasized considerably at the University of California at Irvine in both undergraduate and graduate courses and in senior, graduate, postdoctoral, and faculty research. Particularly strong emphasis is placed on two areas of the field of radiochemistry: neutron activation analysis (NAA) and radiotracer work. Three areas of NAA applications are especially pursued: crime investigation, environmental science, and geochemistry. Both the teaching and the research programs utilize particularly the Department of Chemistry’s TRIGA research reactor and the 14-MeV neutron generator. The radioactive tracer studies are applied especially to the study of chemical kinetics, including hot-atom chemistry with in situ tracer formation and photochemistry with labeled molecules.