¹⁴⁴Ce-¹⁴⁴Pr is one of the radionuclide generators used for demonstration of radioactive equilibrium, an important concept in radioactive decay kinetics for pedagogic activities in nuclear physics and chemistry practicals. This work describes the method of purification of ¹⁴⁴Ce from mixed oxide fuel dissolver solution of FBTR by ionexchange chromatography using Dowex resin followed by solvent extraction using di-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (HDEHP). The daughter nuclide ¹⁴⁴Pr was purified by extraction chromatographic technique using HDEHP coated XAD-7 resin. The purified ¹⁴⁴Ce was used to demonstrate radioactive equilibrium concept from the growth of its daughter nuclide ¹⁴⁴Pr.

Elemental analysis is of fundamental importance in several scientific domains. Many elemental analysis methods have been developed till date, with particular importance having been given to non-destructive analysis methods. In this paper, we review a novel non-destructive, position-selective, and multi-elemental analysis method for bulk material that utilizes a new type of probe, a negative muon. When a muon is stopped by an atom in a material, muonic X-rays are emitted. Due to the large mass of a muon, the energy of muonic X-rays is very high, and the “X-ray fluorescence analysis” method using a muon can solve the problem of self-absorption in an ordinary method using an electron. Two studies involving quantitative and depth-profiling analysis of archeological artifacts by this method are reviewed in this work. We also discuss the scope for future research using this method.

Laser ablation of a metallic iron block in a flow of water was performed to produce both iron and iron oxide nanoparticles. The X-ray diffraction patterns and Mössbauer spectra for the particles indicated that the resulting material consisted of α-Fe and Fe_0.89O nanoparticles. Transmission microscopy images demonstrated that these particles were spherical with diameters in the range of 5 to 45 nm with an average size of 20 nm. The particles were re-suspended in water and irradiated with laser light, following which the particle size was decreased and the material was further oxidized to amorphous Fe₂O₃. These results establish that laser ablation and laser irradiation have different effects when processing iron and iron oxide particles.