Radiation chemistry as a powerful tool for the control of nanometric materials properties – ACETONE

Nanosized materials are now present in many domains. Together with the enhancement or apparition of new properties due to their nanometric size, comes the high sensitivity of surfaces very prone to poisoning. Thus, aging phenomena take place and may have dramatic consequences. Radiolysis (i.e., chemical reactivity induced by interaction between ionizing radiation and matter) is very efficient to create quickly species due to aging and study them. Moreover, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) can be used as an irradiation tool to visualize in situ with high-spatial resolution the generation of degradation products. The aim of the ACETONE project is i) to establish and use TEM as an irradiation tool enabling the in situ visualization of the evolution of nanomaterials under irradiation; ii) and to study the interface modifications due to the surrounding environment by different radiolysis techniques (pulse, steady state…). We intend here to save time by using radiolysis, as an accelerating aging technique and propose detailed reaction mechanisms. This understanding of aging phenomena will in turn help proposing materials with safer, controlled and improved properties, which has potentially important industrial applications. Indeed, deciphering reaction mechanisms will help suggesting solutions to try to decrease the impact of these degradation phenomena. In order to demonstrate the validity of this approach for nanomaterial technologies in general, we have selected examples from two fields of high societal impact i.e. health and energy with a major “nano” impact.