• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.8
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• pp.971-976
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• 2012

Silica-coated Au with Ag, Co, Cu, and Ir bimetallic radioisotope nanoparticles were synthesized by neutron irradiation, after coating $SiO_2$ onto the bimetallic particles by the sol-gel St$\ddot{o}$ber process. Bimetallic nanoparticles were synthesized by irradiating aqueous bimetallic ions at room temperature. Their shell and core diameters were recorded by TEM to be 100 - 112 nm and 20 - 50 nm, respectively. The bimetallic radioisotope nanoparticles' gamma spectra showed that they each contained two gamma-emitting nuclides. The nanoparticles could be used as radiotracers in petrochemical and refinery processes that involve temperatures that would decompose conventional organic radioactive labels.