Radiation Chemistry: Present Status and Future Trends

During the twentieth century, radiation chemistry emerged as a multi-faceted field encompassing all areas of science. Radiation chemical techniques are becoming increasingly popular and are being routinely used not only by chemists but also by biologists, polymer scientists, etc.

"Radiation Chemistry: Present Status and Future Trends" presents an overall view of the different aspects of the subject. The chapters review the current status of the field and present the future opportunities in utilizing radiation chemical techniques. This will be of interest to chemists in general and in particular to radiation chemists, chemical kineticists, photochemists, physical-organic chemists and spectroscopists.

In view of the diverse nature of the field, the book is a multi-authored effort by several experts in their particular areas of research. Six main areas, both basic and applied, were identified and the book is organized around them. The topics were selected in terms of their relative importance and the contribution of radiation chemistry to the general areas of chemistry, biology and physics. The topics covered are as diverse as gas phase radiation chemistry, the use of radiation chemical techniques, the treatment of water pollutants, the chemical basis of radiation biology, and muonium chemistry. The book also contains an update of the next generation electron accelerators.

Chapter headings. Radiation chemistry: from the early days to the next millennium. Accelerators for ultrafast phenomena. Ion-beam radiation chemistry. Radiation chemistry under magnetic fields - Spin coherence effects. Muonium chemistry. Fundamental processes in gas-phase radiation chemistry. High temperature water radiolysis. Radiation chemistry of concentrated inorganic aqueous solutions. Radiation chemistry of organic liquids: saturated hydrocarbons. Radiation chemistry of organic halides in aqueous solutions. Radiation chemistry of fullerenes. Radiation chemistry of quinones. Redox chemistry and energetics of radical cations of substituted benzenes. Heteroatom-centered free radicals: some selected contributions by radiation chemistry. Zeolite catalysis studies by radiation chemical methods. Radiation chemistry of nanocolloids and clusters. Radiation chemical studies of porphyrins and metalloporphyrins. Carbohydrates. Radiation chemistry of the nucleobases. Radiation chemistry of proteins. Radiation-induced damage in DNA. Free radical mechanisms in anti-cancer drug research. The chemistry behind the application of ionizing radiation in water-pollution abatement. High-performance polymeric materials for separation and reaction, prepared by radiation-induced graft polymerization. Radiation pasteurization and sterilization of food.