Methods for separating carbon isotopes

Abstract

The present invention relates to a carbon isotope separation apparatus using an electron beam heating method, and a method for separating carbon isotopes using the same. Specifically, a carbon isotope separation apparatus according to one embodiment includes a high vacuum electron beam chamber, a magnetic metal cylinder provided in the high vacuum electron beam chamber and having a carbon mixture storage section on its upper surface, and a water-cooled sample holder in contact with the lower surface of the magnetic metal cylinder, and can efficiently separate and concentrate carbon isotopes.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a carbon isotope separation apparatus and a method for separating and concentrating carbon isotopes using the same. [Background technology]

[0002] Isotope separation technology is a technique for separating a specific isotope from an isotope mixture composed of identical elements with different atomic weights.

[0003] On the other hand, carbon has a natural composition ratio of 98.89% carbon-12( 12 C) and 1.1% carbon-13 ( 13 Carbon has two stable isotopes, and each isotope is a very useful material in various industrial fields, making it one of the most important raw materials for isotope separation and enrichment. However, the technologies currently used for separating carbon isotopes have drawbacks, such as requiring expensive equipment and specialized skills, using materials harmful to the environment and human health, and having low separation efficiency. [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0004] One aspect of the present invention provides a separation apparatus capable of efficiently separating and concentrating carbon isotopes, and a method for separating carbon isotopes using the same. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] One aspect of the present invention provides a carbon isotope separation apparatus comprising a high vacuum electron beam chamber, a magnetic metal cylinder provided within the high vacuum electron beam chamber and having a carbon mixture storage section on its upper surface, and a water-cooled sample holder in contact with the lower surface of the magnetic metal cylinder.

[0006] The magnetic metal may be nickel or cobalt.

[0007] The aforementioned sample holder may be a graphite deposition area.

[0008] The body portion of the magnetic metal cylinder may be a diffusion pathway for carbon.

[0009] Another aspect of the present invention is a method for separating carbon isotopes using the carbon isotope separation apparatus, wherein the carbon mixture storage portion of the magnetic metal cylinder is... 12 C and 13 The present invention provides a method for separating carbon isotopes, comprising the steps of introducing a carbon mixture containing C and eutectic heating by electron beam heating, and precipitating graphite by the diffusion of carbon elements.

[0010] The magnetic metal cylinder may form a temperature gradient that decreases from the carbon mixture storage section toward the lower surface.

[0011] The temperature of the carbon mixture storage section may be 1300°C to 1400°C, and the temperature of the lower surface may be 600°C to 900°C.

[0012] The separated carbon isotopes can be controlled by selecting the metallic component of the magnetic metal cylinder. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] According to the carbon isotope separation method of the present invention, carbon isotopes can be separated and their relative abundances controlled in an economical and environmentally friendly manner.

[0014] Specifically, the carbon isotope separation method according to one embodiment is environmentally friendly because it does not use materials harmful to the human body and the environment, and it has the advantages of a simple process and high energy efficiency, so it is expected to be advantageously applicable in actual industrial settings. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1]It is a diagram showing a magnetic metal cylinder according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] It is a photograph of the lower surface of the magnetic metal cylinder before and after the diffusion of carbon elements according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] It is a diagram showing a magnetic metal cylinder according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] It is the Raman spectrum of the upper and lower surfaces of the magnetic metal cylinder after the diffusion of carbon elements in Example 1. [Figure 5] It is the Raman spectrum of the upper and lower surfaces of the magnetic metal cylinder after the diffusion of carbon elements in Example 2. [Figure 6] It is the Raman spectrum of the upper and lower surfaces of the magnetic metal cylinder after the diffusion of carbon elements in Example 3.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Unless otherwise defined herein, all technical and scientific terms have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terms used in the description of this specification are only for effectively describing specific examples and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0017] The singular forms used in the present invention are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless otherwise indicated in the context.

[0018] Throughout this specification, to “include”, “comprise”, “contain” or “have” a certain component means, unless otherwise stated to the contrary, not to exclude other components but to further include other components, and does not exclude elements, materials, or steps not additionally listed.

[0019] As used herein, numerical ranges include lower and upper limits, all values ​​within those ranges, increments logically derived from the form and width of the defined range, all double-limited values, and all possible combinations of upper and lower limits of numerical ranges limited in different forms. Unless otherwise defined in the specification of the present invention, values ​​outside the numerical range that may arise due to experimental error or rounding of values ​​are also included in the defined numerical range.

[0020] Unless otherwise defined herein, “approximately” may refer to values ​​up to 30%, 25%, 20%, 15%, 10%, or 5% of the specified value.

[0021] The following provides a detailed description of this disclosure. However, this is illustrative only and the disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments described herein.

[0022] One aspect of the present invention provides an apparatus capable of separating and concentrating carbon isotopes using electron beam heating, and a method for separating carbon isotopes using the same.

[0023] A carbon isotope separation apparatus according to one embodiment may include a high vacuum electron beam chamber, a magnetic metal cylinder (Figure 1) provided within the high vacuum electron beam chamber and having a carbon mixture storage section on its upper surface, and a water-cooled sample holder in contact with the lower surface of the magnetic metal cylinder.

[0024] The magnetic metal can be any magnetic metal with high solubility in carbon, and may be nickel, cobalt, or iron, among other non-limiting examples.

[0025] The body of the magnetic metal cylinder can serve as a diffusion pathway for carbon elements. Furthermore, the water-cooled sample holder can serve as a graphite deposition area where the diffused and moving carbon elements are cooled and precipitated.

[0026] Another aspect of the present invention provides a method for separating carbon isotopes using the carbon isotope separation apparatus described above.

[0027] A method for separating carbon isotopes according to one embodiment involves a carbon mixture storage unit of the magnetic metal cylinder. 12 C and 13 The method may include the steps of introducing a carbon mixture containing C, eutecticing the carbon mixture with a magnetic metal by electron beam heating, and precipitating graphite by the diffusion of carbon elements.

[0028] A method for separating carbon isotopes according to one embodiment may further include the step of annealing a magnetic metal cylinder before introducing a carbon mixture, in which case the diffusion of the carbon elements can be made easier.

[0029] The aforementioned annealing may, for example, be carried out in a hydrogen atmosphere at a temperature range of 1300 to 1400°C for 40 to 60 hours.

[0030] According to one embodiment of the method for separating carbon isotopes, the electron beam heating can create a temperature gradient that decreases from the carbon mixture storage section of the magnetic metal cylinder toward the lower surface, thereby allowing diffused and moving carbon elements to precipitate on the lower surface.

[0031] When performing the electron beam heating, the temperature of the carbon mixture storage section may be 1,300°C to 1,400°C, or 1,320°C to 1,400°C, or 1,320°C to 1,350°C, and the temperature of the lower surface (water-cooled sample holder, graphite deposition section) may be 600°C to 900°C, and may vary depending on the length of the magnetic metal cylinder.

[0032] The separation of carbon isotopes by electron beam heating may be carried out for 6 to 8 hours.

[0033] By selecting the metallic component of the magnetic metal cylinder, the separated carbon isotopes can be controlled. For example, in a nickel-component magnetic metal cylinder...12 C diffuses more rapidly and at the lower surface 12 C can be concentrated and deposited. In the cobalt-component magnetic metal cylinder 13 C diffuses more rapidly and at the lower surface 13 C can be concentrated and deposited.

[0034] Hereinafter, the above-described implementation examples will be described in more detail with reference to examples. However, the following examples are for illustrative purposes only and do not limit the scope of the rights.

[0035] [Example 1] Nickel metal bulk with a purity of 99.9 wt% (Shaanxi Super Metal Materials Co., Limited) was processed into the form of the cylinder shown in Fig. 1. In Fig. 1, the unit is mm. The magnetic metal cylinder formed of the nickel was annealed at 1400 °C for 60 hours in a hydrogen atmosphere.

[0036] After that, 12 C carbon powder (Alfa Aesar) and 13 C carbon powder (Cambridge Isotope Laboratories Inc.) were 12 C / 13 A carbon mixture source mixed at a weight ratio of C / C = 1.4 was put into isopropanol and sonicated for 5 minutes (Qsonica sonicator at ~300 W power) to produce a carbon mixture dispersion. After the carbon mixture dispersion was put into the carbon mixture storage part of the magnetic metal cylinder with a micropipette, the solvent was dried.

[0037] The carbon mixture - magnetic metal cylinder system was installed in a high vacuum electron beam chamber, and the lower surface of the magnetic metal cylinder was brought into contact with a water-cooled sample holder. The internal pressure of the high vacuum electron beam chamber was 10 -7Using a torr (torr) method, the carbon mixture was heated to 1330°C using an electron beam, and the carbon mixture and magnetic metal were eutectic to induce diffusion of carbon elements within the magnetic metal cylinder. After 6 hours, it was confirmed that graphite had precipitated on the lower surface of the magnetic metal cylinder (Figure 2-(b)).

[0038] [Example 2] The length of the magnetic metal cylinder was changed as shown in Figure 3, and the proportion of isotopes in the carbon mixture ( 12 C / 13 The procedure was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the weight ratio of C) was changed from 1.4 to 1.

[0039] [Example 3] The procedure was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1, except that 99.95 wt% pure cobalt metal bulk (Shaanxi Super Metal Materials Co. Limited) was used instead of nickel metal as the magnetic metal cylinder material.

[0040] In the above example, after the carbon element diffusion experiment, the Raman spectral results of the graphite precipitated in the carbon mixture storage section (source side) and the water-cooled sample holder (bottom side) (Figures 4-6) were obtained from 13 The C content (at%) was calculated (Nano Lett. 2009, 9, 12, 4268-4272) and is shown in Table 1 below. Here, the Raman spectrum was obtained using a confocal Raman microscope (WITec) in mapping mode with a 532 nm laser source, x100 objective lens, ~1 mW laser output, 5 accumulations, and an acquisition time of 10 seconds. The resulting spectrum was analyzed using Matlab software and is shown. The average position of the G peak shown in the figure was calculated according to the Gaussian function.

[0041] [Table 1]

[0042] Referring to Table 1, Examples 1 and 2, which used a magnetic metal cylinder made of nickel, showed that the graphite deposited in the water-cooled sample holder (bottom side) was different from the graphite in the carbon mixture storage section (source side). 12 It can be seen that the content of C is concentrated. From this, it can be seen that it is a relatively light element. 12 It can be seen that carbon diffuses more quickly through the nickel metal and precipitates at a concentrated content on the bottom side.

[0043] In contrast, Example 3, which uses a magnetic metal cylinder formed of cobalt, 13 We confirmed that the C content was concentrated, resulting in the opposite outcome to that observed with nickel.

[0044] In other words, the type of magnetic metal can be used to select the carbon isotope to be separated, and by repeating this experiment, pure 13 C and 12 It is expected that C can be separated.

[0045] As described above, the disclosure has been explained by limited embodiments provided for the sake of a more general understanding of the disclosure, and the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above. A person with ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosure belongs can make various modifications and variations from such descriptions.

[0046] Therefore, the concept of the present invention should not be limited to the embodiments described above, and it can be said that not only the scope of the attached claims, but also equivalent or equivalent modifications to these claims, all fall within the scope of the concept of the present invention.

Claims

1. A high vacuum electron beam chamber, A magnetic metal cylinder, which includes a carbon mixture storage section on its upper surface, is provided within the aforementioned high-vacuum electron beam chamber. A carbon isotope separation apparatus comprising a water-cooled sample holder in contact with the lower surface of the magnetic metal cylinder.

2. The carbon isotope separation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic metal is nickel or cobalt.

3. The carbon isotope separation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sample holder is a graphite deposition section.

4. The carbon isotope separation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the body portion of the magnetic metal cylinder is a diffusion pathway for carbon elements.

5. A method for separating carbon isotopes using a carbon isotope separation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, In the carbon mixture storage section of the magnetic metal cylinder １２ C and １３ The steps include introducing a carbon mixture containing C and eutectic heating using an electron beam method, A method for separating carbon isotopes, comprising the step of precipitating graphite by the diffusion of carbon elements.

6. The method for separating carbon isotopes according to claim 5, wherein the magnetic metal cylinder forms a temperature gradient that decreases from the carbon mixture storage section toward the lower surface.

7. The method for separating carbon isotopes according to claim 6, wherein the temperature of the carbon mixture storage section is 1300°C to 1400°C, and the temperature of the lower surface is 600°C to 900°C.

8. The method for separating carbon isotopes according to claim 5, wherein the separated carbon isotopes are controlled by selecting the metallic component of the magnetic metal cylinder.

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