This article I found mentions that scientists have found a
new way to improve the detection of radioactive uranium and plutonium in waste
water. Recently, scientists have
discovered that radioactive materials in water tend to clump onto flakes of graphene
oxide or GO. After further research and
supercomputing, it was concluded that attaching a carbonyl functional group to
the graphene oxide would create the most effective nanosensor for uranium and
plutonium. This nanosensor could
potentially sense and identify small amounts, possibly even single molecules of
these radioactive substances. A
development like this is extremely important as detection of these harmful
substances could improve our environment.
Submitted by: Melanie Blank
Interesting! I thought it was especially cool that you chose this article since we're studying radioactivity in my physics class at the moment. I like seeing how various branches of science can interact: Although we can explain radioactivity on a physical level and it affects us on a biological level, we can combat it on a chemical level.
ReplyDeleteSubmitted by Amanda Jack