Synthesis of Radioactive Materials and Compositions of Same

Abstract

The present invention relates generally to synthesis of radioactive material, such as a tritiated polymer, and an apparatus for generating electrical current from the nuclear decay process of a radioactive material. In one embodiment, the invention relates to an energy cell (e.g. a battery) for generating electrical current derived from particle emissions occurring within a radioactive material such as a tritiated polymer) on pore walls of a porous semiconductor. The radioactive material may be introduced into the energy cell by a wetting process.

1 . A process comprising:
 (a) selecting an organic material; and   (b) tritiating the organic material to yield a tritiated material, wherein
 (i) the tritiated material has a ratio of tritium atoms to carbon atoms of at least about 1:1, and 
 (ii) the tritiating of the material in step (b) comprises a method selected from the group consisting of addition, substitution, and combinations thereof. 
   
   
   
       2 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the organic material comprises a polymer and the tritiated material comprises a tritiated polymer. 
   
   
       3 . The process of  claim 2 , wherein the polymer comprises a poly(vinylacetylene). 
   
   
       4 . The process of  claim 2 , wherein the polymer comprises TMS poly(vinylacetylene). 
   
   
       5 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the amount of tritium in the tritiated material is at least about 20 wt %. 
   
   
       6 . The process of  claim 2 , wherein the amount of tritium in the tritiated polymer is at least about 20 wt %. 
   
   
       7 . The process of  claim 2 , wherein the tritiated polymer is [C 4 H 3 T 5 ] n . 
   
   
       8 . The process of  claim 2 , wherein the tritiated polymer is tritiated poly(1-ethylethylene). 
   
   
       9 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the tritiated material is saturated. 
   
   
       10 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the step of tritiating the organic material comprises addition. 
   
   
       11 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the step of tritiating the organic material comprises catalytic tritium addition. 
   
   
       12 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the organic material has at least one carbon-carbon triple bond, and wherein the step of tritiating the organic material comprises addition of the tritium in the form of tritium gas to the carbon-carbon triple bond. 
   
   
       13 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the organic material has at least one carbon-carbon double bond, and wherein the step of tritiating the organic material comprises addition of the tritium in the form of tritium gas to the carbon-carbon double bond. 
   
   
       14 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the step of tritiating the organic material comprises substitution. 
   
   
       15 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the step of tritiating the organic material comprises T 2 O hydrolysis. 
   
   
       16 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the step of tritiating the organic material comprises addition and substitution. 
   
   
       17 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the ratio of tritium atoms to carbon atoms in the tritiated material is at least about 1.25:1. 
   
   
       18 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the ratio of tritium atoms to carbon atoms in the tritiated material is at least about 1.5:1. 
   
   
       19 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the ratio of tritium atoms to carbon atoms in the tritiated material is at least about 2:1. 
   
   
       20 . The process of  claim 2 , further comprising synthesizing the polymer, wherein the polymer is synthesized from two or more compounds, wherein at least one of said compounds is vinyl bromide. 
   
   
       21 . The process of  claim 20 , wherein the synthesizing of the polymer comprises reacting vinyl bromide with trimethylsilylacetylene ((TMS) acetylene). 
   
   
       22 . The process of  claim 20 , wherein the vinyl bromide is tritiated before the synthesizing of the polymer. 
   
   
       23 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the selecting of the organic material in step (a) comprises selecting an organic material comprising tritium atoms and wherein the tritiating of the organic material in step (b) further tritiates the organic material selected in step (a). 
   
   
       24 . A process comprising:
 (a) reacting vinyl bromide with trimethylsilylacetylene ((TMS) acetylene) in the presence of a catalyst to form TMS protected vinylacetylene;   (b) polymerizing the TMS protected vinylacetylene to generate TMS PVacet;   (c) hydrolyzing the TMS PVacet with T 2 O to form PVacet-T; and   (d) adding tritium to the PVacet-T to yield tritiated poly(1-ethylethylene).   
   
   
       25 . A saturated polymer comprising carbon and tritium, wherein the saturated polymer has a ratio of tritium atoms to carbon atoms of at least about 1:1. 
   
   
       26 . The saturated polymer of  claim 25 , wherein the ratio of tritium atoms to carbon atoms is at least about 1.25:1. 
   
   
       27 . The saturated polymer of  claim 25 , wherein the ratio of tritium atoms to carbon atoms is at least about 1.5:1. 
   
   
       28 . The saturated polymer of  claim 25 , wherein the ratio of tritium atoms to carbon atoms is at least about 2:1. 
   
   
       29 . The saturated polymer of  claim 25 , wherein the saturated polymer is tritiated poly(1-ethylethylene). 
   
   
       30 . The saturated polymer of  claim 25 , wherein at least one monomer unit of the saturated polymer comprises at least 5 tritium atoms.