Research Selections 
2012

As the home to Australia’s nuclear expertise, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation 
(ANSTO) is one of Australia’s largest research organisations.
 
Nuclear science and technology is a dynamic area of research that focuses on the building blocks of matter.  
Many of the most important questions society faces in areas such as health, climate change and industry are  
being investigated by ANSTO researchers.
 
At the heart of ANSTO’s research capabilities is the OPAL reactor which is one of the world’s newest and best 
multi-purpose research reactors. OPAL is used for scientific research, the production of medical radioisotopes,  
the activation of targets and the irradiation of silicon used for electronics.
 
ANSTO operates two particle accelerators, STAR and ANTARES, which are used to analyse materials to determine 
their elemental composition and age and are fundamental to advancing knowledge in human history and the 
environment.
 
As a Federal Government agency, ANSTO’s provides policy advice to Government on all matters relating to nuclear 
science, technology and engineering, supporting its international roles and obligations. ANSTO is connected with 
all Australian and New Zealand universities through the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering 
(AINSE), providing researchers access to Australia’s nuclear science, technology and engineering expertise.
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | i
ii |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Table of contents
Foreword 2
Life sciences and food 4
 Complex responses of extra-nuclear DNA and RNA after gamma irradiation 6
 Cell membrane studies helping to tackle antibiotic resistance 12
 Learning more about inflammation through studying molecular mechanisms in the brain 16
 The translocator protein in response to cannabinoids 20
 Non-destructive assessment of gamma irradiation on internal mango quality 24
 Simultaneous measurement of structure and viscosity changes during starch cooking 28
Environment and climate change 32
 Groundwater ‘age’ assessment in the Gnangara Mound, Western Australia  34
 Trace metal distribution in feathers from migratory, pelagic birds using high-resolution   
 synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy   40
 Forest soil erosion in the wake of major bushfires 46
 Ancient mega floods in the monsoon tropics of Australia coincide with climatic instability   50
Novel materials 56
 Studying the morphology and stability of organic light-emitting diode devices   58
 When the guest rattles the host 62
 Understanding radiation damage at the atomic scale 68
 Advanced nuclear waste forms 72
Materials engineering 76
 Viewing metals’ evolution at high temperature 78
 Simulating phase transformations during the welding of ferritic steels  82
 An investigation of residual stresses in insulated rail joints 86
New technologies for national security 90
 Investigating the impact of radiation and radioactive contamination on forensic  
 trace evidence 92
 Towards realisation of novel semiconductor radiation detectors 96
 Improving low-level gamma spectrometric measurements to study contamination in   
 environmental samples 100
 Improving the identification of radiological and nuclear materials 104
ANSTO facts and figures 2011 108
ANSTO publications 2011 116
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 1
Foreword
ANSTO is an instrument of the Australian Government committed to Australian 
scientists and researchers, Australian innovation and Australia’s future. ANSTO’s 
existence is inextricably linked to efforts to protect and sustain Australia’s 
environment, to improve our health, to find ways to better diagnose and treat 
diseases, to produce nuclear medicines and to make a contribution to the global 
progress of nuclear science and technology.
While ANSTO’s world-class infrastructure and science platforms are a demonstration 
of the foresight of the Australian Government, through the work of our researchers - 
and our collaborative thinking and strong partnerships - we contribute significantly to 
momentum in scientific discovery: bringing ideas to life. 
Through strong collaborations great advances are made. ANSTO’s local and 
international partnerships, as evidenced by the articles in this year’s Research 
Selections, are part of a scientific network that reaches into universities, government 
and industry and other research organisations – all of which have a crucial 
contribution to make to research outcomes and, by extension, our living world.
ANSTO is part of the international science and technology community and is a 
hub for a vibrant research engagement and discovery. Each year hundreds of the 
world’s top researchers who use nuclear techniques to advance knowledge head 
to ANSTO. These collaborations enable us to magnify our influence and reach 
across the geography of possibilities. Not least of all through the mechanism of 
collaborative agreements with international organisations thereby ensuring a gateway  
for Australian scientists to the best international facilities, including CERN’s Large 
Hadron Collider - home to the intrepid Higgs Boson particle physicists.
Research Selections is a small sample of the vast amount of great science being 
leveraged with our infrastructure. But science doesn’t stand still. To continue to 
achieve great science and ensure Australia remains at the forefront of discovery and 
innovation, we need to develop, grow and build on existing foundations of knowledge. 
ANSTO is already custodian of OPAL – Australia’s only nuclear reactor and one of 
the best research reactors in the world. Thanks to OPAL, we are able to supply vital 
nuclear medicine for Australians, irradiate silicon for the global semi-conductor market 
and, importantly, provide neutrons enabling researchers to probe matter at the nano 
and atomic scale, unlocking mysteries that can lead to profound discovery. 
2 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
While OPAL puts ANSTO streets ahead of where it otherwise would be, we cannot 
and are not resting on our laurels. In April 2012, approximately100 national and 
international experts attended the Second OPAL Guide Hall Workshop to discuss the 
medium- to long-term future of OPAL, an essential step towards the full exploitation 
of this world-leading research infrastructure. They discussed the extremely rapid 
advances in neutron beam instruments over the past few years and brainstormed 
strategies for using these advances and building a second suite of beamlines and 
instruments that will be at the forefront of neutron beam capabilities.  
ANSTO is also taking great strides in accelerator science. Our particle accelerators 
ANTARES and STAR are well established for analysing the elemental composition 
and age of materials using ion beam analysis and accelerator mass spectrometry. 
Two new accelerators will be established at ANSTO, as part of our Centre for 
Accelerator Science which has been funded through investment by the Government. 
These will enhance our capabilities in, for example, radiocarbon dating on historical 
artefacts, environmental studies, and determining how fossil fuels are contributing to 
climate change. The formation of the Australian Collaboration for Accelerator Science 
between the Australian Synchrotron, the University of Melbourne and the Australian 
National University is aimed at creating and maintaining a national pool of world 
class facilities and accelerator expertise. This collaboration will ensure Australia 
remains at the leading edge of accelerator capabilities and facilities.   
In presenting this year’s Research Selections, which showcases  
achievements throughout the past 12 or so months, I congratulate  
the researchers who have been published this year.
Dr Adi Paterson
Chief Executive Officer
ANSTO
 ANSTO Research Selections 2010   |   3 3
Lanifde  sfocoiednces
4 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Life sciences and food
By using nuclear techniques, ANSTO’s researchers tackle a wide variety of 
intriguing questions about living matter and our natural world.
Over the past year our researchers looked at a range of areas including helping 
to create new types of antibiotics to combat the increasing issue of antibiotic 
resistance; researching proteins to treat diseases such as multiple sclerosis; 
and studying the susceptibility of genetic material to radiation damage which 
could aid in more precisely estimating doses for cancer treatments.
Our scientists also explored how irradiation might be used as an alternative 
to pesticides to control insect infestations in mangoes; and developed a new 
instrument that has helped scientists to better understand the behaviour of food 
starches and potentially pave the way for new food manufacturing processes 
that may help prevent bowel cancer. 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 5
Life sciences and food
(L-R) Winnie Kam, Aimee McNamara 
and Justin Davies are working together to 
better understand the effects of radiation on 
genetic material.
6 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Complex responses of extra-nuclear DNA and RNA 
after gamma irradiation
Winnie W.Y. Kam1, Aimee L. McNamara2, Connie Banos1, Sohil Sheth1, Justin B. Davies1,2, Richard B. Banati1,2
1ANSTO, 2University of Sydney. 
The genetic information of a mammal cell is stored in two types of molecules: deoxyribonucleic acid 
(DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA).
Understanding the susceptibility of these molecules to radiation damage helps to more accurately 
estimate dose rates for cancer treatment.  
While most research has focused on the effects of radiation on the DNA that is stored in the cell 
nucleus, our research shows that there are also significant effects on genetic material other than the 
cell nucleus i.e. mitochondria, the energy-producing units of the cell.
Our research shows that radiation has complex interactions with genetic material outside the nucleus 
and causes responses that are not yet captured by current dose estimation methods.
Genetic material outside the cell nucleus mitochondria take up a greater portion of the cell volume 
than the nucleus, as can be seen in Figs. 1 and 2. Thus, 
Research into the impact of radiation on living matter the likelihood of radiation being received by mitochondria 
is usually focused on its effect on the genetic material is expected to be greater than for the nucleus.
inside the cell nucleus, i.e. chromosomal DNA, and its There are two types of genetic material: 
repair mechanisms. deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). 
However, within the cytoplasm of the cell is an organelle, DNA serves as the genetic blueprint. DNA is transcribed 
the mitochondrion which contains a small chromosome into RNA which is the messenger that translates into 
of its own, a small circular DNA coding for 37 genes. proteins. DNA is a relatively robust double-stranded, 
Sometimes referred to as the “power plants of the cell”, structure, which is either helical in the nucleus or circular 
mitochondria generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in mitochondria. In contrast, RNA is single-stranded 
as a source of energy. In addition to supplying cellular making it more vulnerable to various stresses, including 
energy, mitochondria are involved in a range of other radiation, see Fig. 3. 
processes. They are also important for cell signalling, Despite the importance of RNA (for protein synthesis) 
differentiation, growth, cell death, and the cell cycle. and mitochondria (for energy production and hence 
Figs. 1A and 1B show electron microscope images of a cell survival), radiation-induced changes to the genetic 
cell (macrophages) containing numerous mitochondria; material in mitochondria has so far received little 
Figs. 1C to 1E show mitochondria in different functional attention.
states after cell activation. Fig. 2 shows mitochondria 
stained by a fluorescent dye. In many cell types, 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 7
Life sciences and food
Complex responses of extra-nuclear DNA and RNA after gamma radiation
Figure 1
1 μm
A mammalian brain macrophage (A & B): The arrow points to the cell nucleus. The mitochondria are the dark oval/elongated structures inside  
the cell. Scale bar: 1 μm.
The shape of the mitochondria reflects the functional state of the cell; (C) mitochondria in a resting cell; (D & E) mitochondria in activated cells  
(Image from [1]). Scale bar: 0.2 μm.
8 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Complex responses of extra-nuclear DNA and RNA after gamma radiation
Figure 2 Figure 3
(A)
(B)
 10 μm
Visualization of mitochondria stained with a fluorescent mitochondrial (A) A schematic view of the cell and the targets of our radiation 
dye. In contrast to a resting cell (A), activated cells have mitochondria, experiment. Nucleus (red sphere) and mitochondria (blue spheres) are 
that form a dense network of often large elongated mitochondria (B & C). randomly distributed within the cell. 
Scale bar: 10 μm (Image from [1]). (B) Irradiation (red shadow) effects all components within the cell i.e. DNA 
in both nucleus (double-helical) and mitochondria (circular). Note that in 
mitochondria, the transcription from DNA into RNA and then translation 
Experimental gamma irradiation of cells into protein (protein synthesis) occurs within the space of the organelle; 
while for nuclear encoded genes, the protein synthesis occurs outside the 
nucleus in the cytosol.
Mammalian cells (of lymphocytic lineage) were irradiated 
at room temperature using a cobalt-60 irradiator. 
60Co emits gamma rays, ionising, high-frequency 
electromagnetic radiation (similar to X-rays). Our control So far we have analysed 18 mitochondrial genes. Fig. 4 
samples were kept at room temperature and were not shows the results: After an irradiation dose of 100 Gy, 12 
irradiated. RNA and DNA extractions from the irradiated out of the 18 mitochondrial genes amplified from the 
and non-irradiated cells were performed immediately mitochondrial RNA template showed an increase in the 
after irradiation. The extracted RNA and DNA were amplifiable amount.  
analysed by quantifying the amount of mitochondrial This suggests that, in response to this particular 
gene present after irradiation using quantitative radiation dose, there was already an early increase in 
real-time polymerase chain reaction. This technique the rate of transcription from the mitochondrial DNA into 
uses repeated amplification cycles to amplify minute mitochondrial RNA during the period of irradiation itself 
quantities of target gene from a pool of nucleic acids (a period of ~2.5 minutes in our experiments).
(RNA or DNA template).
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 9
Life sciences and food
Complex responses of extra-nuclear DNA and RNA after gamma radiation
Figure 4
The acute response of mitochondrial RNA and DNA to gamma radiation. Genes were amplified from (A) RNA or (B) DNA template using a quantitative 
real-time polymerase chain reaction. The heat maps graphically represent the relative amount of the 18 selected mitochondrial genes amplified from 
each type of the template at each tested dose, when compared to the non-irradiated sample. The genes are sorted according to their overall similarity 
in quantity.
Interestingly, after irradiation, mitochondrial DNA responses that relate to genetic material outside the cell 
also responded with an increase in the detectable nucleus. Since extra-nuclear DNA and RNA are crucial 
amount. Unlike mitochondrial RNA, the multiplication for vital cell functions, future radiation dose models 
of mitochondrial DNA was detectable only at the higher will need to take into account the amount of radiation 
dose of 1000 Gy. We are currently dissecting the received by mitochondria as well as their complex dose-
specific mechanism, such as time courses, temperature dependent response to it, see Fig. 5.
dependency and others, that lead to the changes in 
small mitochondrial chromosomes. This analysis also References
extends to the question of which pathways are likely to 
[1]  Banati, R.B., Egensperger, R., Maassen, A., Hager, G., Kreutzberg, G.W. 
be affected by the differential regulation of mitochondrial and Graeber, M.B., Mitochondria in activated microglia in vitro, Journal of 
RNA expression after radiation exposure. In summary, Neurocytology, 33(5), 535-541 (2004).
our data show that cell irradiation leads to a rich set of 
10 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Complex responses of extra-nuclear DNA and RNA after gamma radiation
Figure 5
(A)
(B)
The relationship between the level of gene detectable (fold change reference to 0 Gy control), 
dose-delivered and the length of the amplified gene (amplicon length). 3D plots on the profiles of 
dose-dependent changes in amplifiable gene from (A) mitochondrial RNA and (B) mitochondrial 
DNA, demonstrating the complex highly differentiated response that varies significantly between 
different genes.
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 11
Life sciences and food
An artist’s impression (David S. Goodsell 
1999) of molecules in a slice of an E. coli 
cell. The green areas show the membrane 
under study.
12 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Cell membrane studies helping to tackle 
antibiotic resistance
Tomas Mayfield, Anton Le Brun, Stephen Holt
ANSTO
Biological membranes are watertight barriers that regulate what gets in and out of cells. Some 
membranes have very specialised functions, such as insulation for nerve cells or capturing light in the 
rod cells of the eye. Currently, around the world, there are significant research efforts in developing 
antibiotics that can attack bacterial membranes to help combat the threat posed by antibiotic-
resistant bacteria. 
As membranes are highly complex structures models, or man-made copies of a bacterial membrane, 
are needed to better understand the effectiveness of a potential new drug. 
In this study we have developed models of bacterial outer membranes and investigated their 
molecular structure using neutron reflectometry. The results show that the models we are creating of 
the bacterial outer membrane are biologically relevant, reproducible and can help test and develop 
better antibiotics.
All cells, whether bacterial or from higher organisms are of the 5 to 6 nanometre thick membrane over a large 
surrounded by a membrane. The membrane is what area, whereas techniques such as microscopy only 
separates the cell from its external environment. The allow study of the initial membrane surface over small 
membrane is made of a lipid bilayer which acts as a areas. Most proteins in the cell are surrounded by 
hydrophobic (water resistant) barrier. Distributed within water. However, because membrane proteins reside 
the membrane are membrane proteins, which act as in the water-resistant phospholipid bilayer this makes 
the cell’s gate keepers, allowing nutrients into the cell them difficult to study using many of the routine 
and letting the waste products out. The importance of scientific techniques such as X-ray crystallography. 
cell membranes is also underlined by the fact that over Neutron reflectometry provides structural information on 
60% of currently available drugs and 40% of new drugs membrane proteins in their natural bilayer surrounding, 
target membrane proteins [1] and there is a large focus by taking a slice through the depth of the membrane. 
on antibiotics that attack the lipid-bilayer component of Reflectometry tells us the thickness and distribution of 
bacterial membranes. To better understand a membrane the different components (typically lipids, proteins and 
we need to understand the physical properties of the water) as we measure through the depth of the bilayer.  
lipid bilayer and how membrane proteins function and 
assemble. This is not a trivial task. A cell membrane is a Characterising model bacterial outer 
very complex structure with many different types of lipids membranes
and an even greater number of different proteins, all 
contributing to the function of the cell. To study biological Bacteria that have a double membrane are classed 
membranes we take a reductionist approach i.e. we start as Gram-negative. Gram-negative bacteria include 
with a very simple model, see how that works and then bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella. They have 
slowly build up in complexity. So our research seeks an inner membrane and an outer membrane. The 
to investigate how to make these simple models and outer membrane is unusual in that it is asymmetric. 
whether they mimic what is seen in nature. An asymmetrical membrane is one in which the half 
of the membrane that faces the inside of the cell is 
So why use neutrons? very different from the half that faces the outside of the 
cell. We have made model membranes that replicate 
There are a number of reasons why scientists studying this asymmetry, using floating supported bilayers [2]. 
membranes want to use the neutrons produced by the Floating supported bilayers are advantageous as the 
OPAL reactor at ANSTO. The main neutron technique membrane is not physically bonded to the surface 
is neutron reflectometry, which provides a depth profile that supports it. This means that the properties of the 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 13
Life sciences and food
Making model biological membranes for research applications
Figure 1
A schematic showing the principle of a floating supported bilayer. A lipid monolayer is chemically bonded to a modified silicon surface. Then using 
Langmuir-Blodgett deposition the lower lipid leaflet is deposited (in this case the DOPE layer) and then using Langmuir-Schaefer deposition an upper 
leaflet of lipids is deposited (the LPS layer). 
model membrane are not influenced by the supporting considered as the “neutron refractive index” and  
surface and should behave more like a membrane found we model the change in scattering-length density 
in nature. A silicon surface is used both because the through each layer of the membrane to deduce its 
surface can be made atomically flat, which is necessary structure (Fig. 2). 
for good neutron reflectometry measurements, and also 
because silicon is amenable to a number of different Using deuteration to get further details 
chemistries, making the surface easy to functionalise. To 
create the floating supported bilayer, a lipid monolayer Neutron scattering in soft matter and biomolecular 
is grafted onto a silicon surface. The bilayer that we science can be made more advantageous if some 
wish to create then sits or floats above the grafted components of a multi-component system are 
monolayer (Fig. 1). The membrane is created by using deuterated. Neutrons scatter from hydrogen very 
a series of Langmuir-Blodgett and Langmuir-Schaefer differently than from its heavier isotope deuterium. 
dipping techniques [3]. Using a state-of-the-art Langmuir Therefore, if we label one of the components in the 
dipping trough, the modified silicon surface is pushed membrane system with deuterium, each component  
through a monolayer of lipid on a liquid surface either can be picked out of the complex system. Deuterated 
vertically (Langmuir-Blodgett) or horizontally (Langmuir- LPS was made in the bio-labs of the National 
Schaefer). When the silicon surface is passed through Deuteration Facility at ANSTO. The deuterated LPS 
the lipid monolayer the material transfers from the liquid allows us to distinguish between it and the hydrogenous 
surface onto the silicon creating the floating bilayer. DOPE leaflet when we swap between a D2O solvent  Using the dipping techniques we have managed to and regular H2O, adding further detail to our model,  create for the first time asymmetric floating bilayers such as the surface coverage and molecular area of 
of di-oleoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE) and each component in the membrane. 
lipopolysaccharide (LPS). DOPE is the most abundant 
lipid on the inner side of the membrane of the outer 
membrane, whilst LPS is the abundant molecule on Summary
the outer side of the outer membrane. These floating 
bilayers have been found to be good models, as they We have created robust models of the outer membrane 
can replicate asymmetry, mimic the phase behaviour of of Gram-negative bacteria. Using neutron reflectometry 
lipids in nature and mimic the fluidity of bilayers. Using and molecular deuteration we have been able to 
neutron reflectometry on the Platypus reflectometer at characterise these model membranes to see if they 
OPAL we have been able to characterise the structures reflect the properties of a membrane in nature. These 
of these model bacterial outer membranes. Fig. 2 model membranes are powerful tools for studying how 
shows the data collected on the reflectometer and the membrane proteins function and how antibacterial 
structure of the bilayer as a scattering-length, density agents and other drugs interact with membranes.
profile. A neutron scattering-length density (SLD) can be  
 
14 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Figure 2
A) The reflectivity data (points with error bars) and model fits (lines) of a floating model membrane of DOPE and lipopolysaccharide under a D2O (red) 
and H2O (blue) solvent contrast. B) The corresponding neutron scattering-length density profile. The schematic below the profile shows the position of 
each component along the membrane. 
References 
[1]   Yildirim, M. A., Goh, K.-I., Cusick, M. E., Barabasi, A.-L., and Vidal, M., Drug-
target Network, Nature Biotechnology, 25(10), 1119-1126 (2007). 
[2]   Hughes, A. V., Howse, J. R., Dabkowska A., Jones, R. A. L., Lawrence 
M. J., Roser, S. J., Floating lipid bilayers deposited on chemically grafted 
phosphatidylcholine surfaces, Langmuir, 24(5), 1989-1999 (2008). 
[3]   Charitat, T., Bellet-Amalric, E., Fragneto, G., and Graner, F., Absorbed and free 
lipid bilayers at the solid-liquid interface. European Physical Journal B, 8(4), 
583-593 (1999). 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 15
Life sciences and food
A better understanding of the translocator 
protein will assist with the development of 
drugs to treat inflammatory disease in the 
brain.
16 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Learning more about inflammation by studying 
molecular mechanisms in the brain
Claire Hatty1,2, Anton Le Brun1, Vanessa Lake1, Guo Jun Liu1,2, Richard Banati1,2
1ANSTO, 2University of Sydney
The translocator protein is a marker of inflammation in the brain, neuroinflammation, which is 
implicated in diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease.
An understanding of the structure and function of this protein is vital in developing drugs to treat 
neuroinflammation. ANSTO’s research uses neutron reflectometry to study the structure of the 
translocator protein at the molecular level, to gain a deeper understanding of the protein and its 
interactions with potential drugs.
The translocator protein difference in scattering between hydrogen and 
deuterium) to be exploited. Measurements can be  
The translocator protein (TSPO) is an integral made with either deuterated lipids or deuterated protein, 
membrane protein located primarily in the outer and in multiple solvent contrasts to ‘match out’ certain 
mitochondrial membrane of cells in a variety of components. This aids in structural refinement, and 
peripheral tissue, and in immune cells in the brain [1]. It allows for the selective analysis of the different 
is highly conserved throughout evolution, indicating an components of the system that cannot be distinguished 
important functional role for TSPO [1]. There is evidence using other methods. We used neutron reflectometry  
that TSPO acts as a transport channel for cholesterol, in combination with our quartz crystal microbalance  
a necessary step in steroid synthesis, and potentially (Table 1) to study the formation of mixed TSPO – lipid 
acts as an ion channel [1]. Furthermore, TSPO has bilayers, with a view to investigating changes associated 
been implicated in inflammatory disease processes as with ligand binding.
it is greatly up-regulated in activated immune cells [2]. 
The synthetic TSPO ligand PK11195 has been shown Formation of TSPO – lipid bilayers
to induce functional responses via TSPO, such as 
mitochondrial Ca2+ release, and potentially to modulate We used the quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation 
cholesterol transport and steroid production [1]. Despite monitoring (QCM-D) technique to monitor the formation 
the functional importance of TSPO, there is little of protein – lipid bilayers. First, we immobilised mouse 
structural data on the protein, due in large part to the TSPO (mTSPO) solubilised in detergent to a surface 
difficulty of studying the structures of integral membrane engineered to bind the protein (Fig. 1a). Next, we formed 
proteins. The formation of a channel that can transport a lipid bilayer around the protein layer by replacing 
cholesterol was predicted using molecular dynamics [3], detergent with lipid (Fig. 1b). The use of QCM-D allows 
and a potential cholesterol recognition site was identified us to monitor the adsorption of protein and lipid onto a 
through nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy on a resonating crystal surface. A decrease in frequency of 
TSPO peptide [4]. However, further structural evidence the crystal indicates that mass has been added to the 
of channel formation is needed, especially in relation to crystal surface. We observed a decrease in frequency 
the effects of ligand binding on TSPO conformation, so when mTSPO binds to the crystal surface, indicating a 
that this can be correlated with the observed functional protein surface coverage of approximately 75% (Fig. 
effects. 2a). The final change in frequency, after replacing 
detergent with lipid, is consistent with the remaining area 
Using neutrons to study the TSPO being filled by lipid (Fig. 2a). We then tested the effect of 
the TSPO ligand PK11195 on the frequency response, 
Neutron reflectometry makes it possible to study a in an attempt to detect ligand binding. We incubated 
membrane protein such as TSPO in a more natural lipid PK11195 with the protein-lipid bilayer, which resulted in 
environment, which is extremely difficult using other a significant change (p < 0.005) in frequency compared 
structural techniques such as crystallography. The use to the interaction with the surface or lipid alone (Fig. 2b). 
of neutrons, in particular, allows contrast variation (the The change was greater than expected for the mass of 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 17
Life sciences and food
Learning more about inflammation through studying molecular mechanisms in the brain
Figure 1
changes in the hydration of the protein-lipid layer as 
a result of ligand binding. Neutron reflectivity was 
measured at the major stages of TSPO-lipid bilayer 
formation (Fig. 3). There was indeed evidence of 
adsorption of a protein/detergent layer to the surface, 
with an approximate thickness of 50 Å. In addition, there 
was a change in reflectivity after exchanging detergent 
for lipid, indicating the addition of lipid to the protein 
layer. We are currently refining a model to describe the  
TSPO-lipid layer, and the effect of ligands on the 
hydration of the layer.
Outlook
Currently, we are working on improving the stability of 
Process of forming a protein – lipid bilayer. Detergent solubilised protein  the TSPO-lipid bilayer system for further studies with 
is immobilised to the surface (a), and detergent is gradually replaced with neutron reflectometry. The data collected on this system 
lipid (b). will make a valuable addition to the limited structural 
data available for the TSPO. In particular, it could 
provide evidence for channel formation induced by 
the ligand, indicating a possible conformational change ligand interactions, making it possible to relate changes 
of the protein, such as the opening of a channel and in conformation to observed functional changes. This 
increased water content of the layer. fundamental information could have impact in the 
We proceeded to study this TSPO-lipid bilayer system broader context of understanding the function of TSPO 
with neutron reflectometry, with a view to detecting and how it relates to inflammatory disease.
Table 1
Technique What does it measure? What can we learn?
Quartz crystal microbalance The mass and rigidity We can follow the formation of a TSPO-lipid bilayer in real-
with dissipation monitoring of a film (such as a lipid time. We can learn whether the bilayer is rigid or “floppy”, 
bilayer) deposited on a estimate the protein / lipid coverage from the mass on 
surface. the surface, and calculate the thickness of the layer. We 
can also follow changes in mass and rigidity during ligand 
binding.
Neutron reflectometry The thickness and We can use the data to model the thickness and the 
composition of films on a composition of the TSPO-lipid bilayer. We can estimate the 
surface. ratio of protein to lipid in the bilayer, and the thickness of the 
TSPO across the bilayer, giving us more information about 
the dimensions of the TSPO in the membrane environment.
Techniques used to study the TSPO in lipid bilayers.
18 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Learning more about inflammation through studying molecular mechanisms in the brain
Figure 2
T ime (mins )
0 L ipid mT S P O L ipid mT S P O
0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 0
-5
-10 injected mTSPO injected solvent
-15 control
-2
injected
-20 PK11195 ns
injected lipid -4
-25 vesicles
-30 rinsed off -6
excess mTSPO
-35
-40 -8
-45
-50 injected detergent rinsed with buffer -10 S olvent only
-55 solubilised lipid
-12 P K 11195
-60 **
-65 (a) (b)
(a) The change in frequency at each step of the formation of a TSPO-lipid bilayer, and interaction with the ligand PK11195. (b) Comparison of the 
change in frequency as a result of interaction with solvent only or PK11195 on lipid bilayer with or without TSPO. Errors are standard deviations,  
n = 4 in each group.
Figure 3
Neutron reflectivity profiles at each stage of protein – lipid bilayer formation, measured 
in D2O. Measurements were taken of the bare surface (green), the surface after addition 
of protein solubilized in detergent (red), and after the replacement of detergent with lipid 
(blue). All measurements were made on the Surf reflectometer, ISIS, UK.
References
[1]   Papadopoulos, V., Baraldi, M., Guilarte, T. R., Knudsen, T. B., Lacapere, J-J., 
Lindemann, P., Norenberg, M. D., Nutt, D., Weizman, A., Zhang, M-R., and 
Gavish, M., Translocator protein (18 kDa): new nomenclature for the peripheral-
type benzodiazepine receptor based on its structure and molecular function, 
Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, 27(8), 402-409 (2006).
[2]   Banati, R. B., Visualising microglial activation in vivo, Glia, 40(2), 206-217 
(2002).
[3]   Bernassau, J. M., Reversat, J. L., Ferrara, P., Caput, D., and Lefur, G., A 3D 
model of the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor and its implication in intra 
mitochondrial cholesterol transport, Journal of Molecular Graphics, 11, 236-244 
(1993).
[4]   Jamin, N., Neumann, J-M., Ostuni, M. A., Vu, T. K. M., Yao, Z-X., Murail, 
S., Robert, J-C., Giatzakis, C., Papadopoulos, V., and Lacapere, J-J., 
Characterization of the Cholesterol Recognition Amino Acid Concensus 
Sequence of the Peripheral-Type Benzodiazepine Receptor, Molecular 
Endocrinology, 19(3), 588-594 (2005).
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 19
Frequency change (Hz)
C hange in frequency (Hz )
Life sciences and food
Winnie Kam studying the effect of the 
translocator protein in diseases such as 
schizophrenia and psychosis.
20 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
The translocator protein in response to cannabinoids
Ronald Chan1,2, Winnie Kam1, Guo Jun Liu1,2, Katerina Zavitsanou1,3, Richard Banati1,2
1ANSTO, 2University of Sydney, 3Schizophrenia Research Institute, Sydney
The translocator protein is a vital component in stress and anxiety regulation. As cannabis has 
the potential to alter anxiety, stress levels and also trigger psychosis and schizophrenia, this study 
investigates the influence of continuous administration of cannabinoid on the translocator protein in 
both adult and adolescent rats. 
Since the translocator protein is mainly expressed outside of the brain, a variety of organs were 
studied. The results show that cannabinoids have a negative impact on the testicular translocator 
protein. However importantly, this finding was only observed in the adult rats and not in the 
adolescent rats. The implications of observing a specifically different effect in the adult compared to 
adolescent rats suggests adults were most affected by cannaboid treatment whereas adolescent rats 
showed little change. It is possible that the failure to regulate the translocator protein in adolescents 
may lead to diseases such as schizophrenia and psychosis in later life.
The translocator protein theory is that since TSPO is involved in the rate-limiting 
step of cholesterol transport, the expression of TSPO 
The translocator protein (TSPO) is an ancient protein, is able to regulate steroid production within the brain. 
with analogues found in almost all living organisms These neurosteroids, such as allopregnanolone and 
studied to date. In mammals, it is expressed in allotetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone, have been shown 
nearly all tissues with important physiological and to regulate the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter, 
pathophysiological roles. Currently, known roles and GABA transmissions, within the brain. The GABA 
functions of this protein include cholesterol transport, neurotransmitter system is well known for its stress 
steroid production (steroids are organic compounds and anxiety regulating properties (Fig. 1) [3]. Other 
found in plants, animals and humans), stress regulation, researchers have suggested the influences of peripheral 
cell proliferation, apoptosis (normal process leading organs including the kidneys and adrenal glands, citing 
to cell death), heme (a large ring-shaped molecule the high expression of TSPO in the periphery compared 
with an iron atom at its centre) transport and immune to the brain. 
modulation [1]. However, perhaps the best studied 
function is TSPO’s role in steroid production and stress Studying chronic cannabinoid treatment 
regulation. It has been recognised that TSPO is involved 
in the transport of cholesterol across the mitochondrial Understanding the roles of TSPO particularly in steroid 
membranes (mitochondria are the energy productive production, we sought to investigate the effect of a 
sites of a cell). Once transported inside the matrix chronic cannabinoid treatment on the expression of 
side of the mitochondria, enzymes begin converting TSPO. In this light, cannabinoids are interesting not 
cholesterol into steroid precursors. Thus, the ability only due to their psychoactive and anxiety altering 
of the TSPO to assist in the transport of cholesterol is nature, but also due to their peripheral effects, 
critical for the health and development of an organism; namely those on testosterone production and sperm 
this is particularly so as the cholesterol transport  production. Cannabinoids have negative effects on both 
process is also the rate limiting step of all new steroid testosterone production and sperm production. Previous 
production [2]. literature reports reduced testosterone production after 
Studies on the impact of stress and anxiety have noted both acute and chronic exposure to either cannabis and/
that TSPO expression is dramatically decreased upon or cannabinoids. Further, sperm production is decreased 
exposure to prolonged periods of stress. The type of along with increases in the incidences of abnormalities 
stress does not appear to be limited to psychological and defects. 
stress, but also applies to physical stress including We used a rat model [4] previously established at 
forced swimming and electric shocks [1]. In this context, ANSTO, to examine the effects of chronic cannabinoids 
TSPO appears to be a general marker for prolonged on the expression of TSPO in a variety of organs 
stress, with decreases in expression correlating to including the spleen, kidneys, liver and testes. Further, 
the degree of stress experienced. The mechanistic we also examined the effect on adult and adolescent 
process for which TSPO contributes towards stress rats since cannabinoids are known to affect adults and 
and anxiety regulation is still being investigated. One adolescents differently. 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 21
Life sciences and food
The translocator protein in response to cannabinoids
Figure 1
A schematic diagram of how TSPO might modulate stress and anxiety. Within the brain, cholesterol is transported into 
the matrix side of the mitochondrion with the help from TSPO and other proteins. Once inside, side-chain-cleaving 
cytochrome P450 enzyme (P450scc) converts cholesterol into pregnenolone. Here it diffuses into the cytoplasm and 
is converted by a series of other enzymes (not shown) into allopregnanolone and allotetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone 
(3α,5α-THDOC). These neurosteroids are then able to modulate the binding of GABA to GABAA receptors which in turn 
alters the receptor’s function and affect stress and anxiety responses. Figure appropriated from [3].
Different effects for adults and adolescents However, what is much more interesting and surprising 
is that we found a differential effect between adult and 
Administration of chronic cannabis (daily over two adolescent rats (Fig. 3). 
weeks) clearly elicited a general stressful response, In most cases, early-age drug use, particularly during 
with dramatic decreases in weight across both adult and adolescence, can have long lasting negative impacts 
adolescent treated groups (Fig. 2). Our investigations resulting in neurological and behavioural deficits. Here, 
into the expression of TSPO confirmed that changes in we found that adults were most affected by cannabinoid 
expression were indeed stress-stimulus dependent. We treatment whereas adolescent rats showed little 
failed to find any changes in the renal, liver or spleen difference from controls. It is possible that, with respect 
tissues; results from the renal tissues are particularly to the effect of cannabinoids on TSPO expression, 
interesting as they are the classical responders to either it is the failure of regulation that may lead to these 
electric shock or forced swim stress. In response to deficits later in life. Given that cannabis consumption is 
cannabinoid treatment, variations within the testicular strongly linked with the development of schizophrenia 
tissues were found. However this was not too surprising and psychosis [6], the inability of adolescent animals 
since it has already been confirmed that cannabinoids to regulate testosterone levels through the TSPO 
produce alterations within testosterone levels [5]. It does may represent a novel avenue of future research 
confirm that cannabinoids act on a very basic level at in elucidating the developmental causes of various 
suppressing testosterone production through the TSPO. psychiatric illnesses.
22 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Figure 2
Alterations in animal weights during a 14 day chronic cannabinoid treatment, each group contained six animals. Following cannabinoid treatment, a 
decrease in body weight was seen across both adult and adolescent groups. Animal weights remained lower over the course of cannabinoid treatment 
with no marked improvement or adaptation seen. 
Figure 3
Relative expression of TSPO in testicular tissues following chronic cannabinoid treatment. Expression is significantly different in the adult group with 
decreases in cannabinoid treated animals (*p < 0.01). In contrast, no significant differences are seen in the adolescent group. Expression is relative to 
adult control.
References [4]   Dalton. V.S., Wang. H.Q., Zavitsanou. K., HU210-induced downregulation in 
[1]   Gavish. M., Bachman. I., Shoukrun. R., Katz. Y., Veenman. L., Weisinger. cannabinoid CB1 receptor binding strongly correlates with body weight loss in 
G., Weizman. A., Enigma of the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor, the adult rat. Neurochemical Research, 34(7), 1343-1353 (2009).
Pharmacological Reviews, 51(4), 629-650 (1999). [5]   Gorzalka, B.B., Hill, M.N., Chang, S.C., Male–female differences in the effects 
[2]   Pandak. W.M., Ren. S., Marques. D., Hall. E., Redford. K., Mallonee. D., of cannabinoids on sexual behavior and gonadal hormone function, Hormones 
Bohdan. P., Heuman. D., Gil. G., Hylemon. P., Transport of cholesterol into and behavior, 58(1), 91-99 (2010).
mitochondria is rate-limiting for bile acid synthesis via the alternative pathway in [6]   Smit. F., Bolier. L., Cuijpers. P., Cannabis use and the risk of later 
primary rat hepatocytes, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 277(50), 48158-48164 schizophrenia: a review, Addiction, 99(4), 425-430 (2004).
(2002).
[3]   Rupprecht. R., Papadopoulos. V., Rammes. G., Baghai. T.C., Fan. J., Akula. N., 
Groyer. G., Adams. D., Schumacher. M., Translocator protein (18 kDa) (TSPO) 
as a therapeutic target for neurological and psychiatric disorders, Nature 
reviews. Drug Discovery, 9(12), 971-988 (2010).
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 23
Life sciences and food
ANSTO’s studies are helping to sustain 
Australia’s growing mango industry.
24 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Non-destructive assessment of gamma irradiation 
on internal mango quality
Roger Bourne2, Connie Banos1, Justin Davies1,2 Richard Banati1,2, Robert Henriod3 
1ANSTO, 2University of Sydney, 3Queensland Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation
The Australian mango fruit grower’s market is a substantial industry sector that is anticipated to grow 
by 20% in 2014. The ripening, transportation, and saleable life-span of mangoes depends on keeping 
the fruit free from pests and disease.
Worldwide, the use of irradiation is emerging as a viable, chemical-free alternative to traditional 
pesticides. 
This research builds upon our knowledge in understanding the physiological responses of three new 
Australian mango fruit hybrids to varying doses of gamma irradiation following harvest. Of particular 
interest is the question of whether irradiation may degrade the fruit, such as cause damage to 
lenticels (small pores) on the fruit’s outer skin.
The study illustrates how ANSTO’s expertise makes a crucial contribution to the development of 
Australia’s national food security by providing new insight into the viability of irradiation to achieve 
safe phytosanitary (pest and disease) protocols for the agriculture industry. 
Using magnetic resonance imaging for The mangoes investigated 
studying mangoes
In this trial, we investigated the effect of gamma 
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers a means irradiation on internal browning and bruising of a  
of non-destructively examining fruit for internal and small number of NMBP1243 mangoes, see Fig.1.  
surface defects and has been used here to monitor Eight mangoes were gamma-irradiated with doses of  
changes in the water status of tissues of fruits and 0, 200 or 800 Gy using ANSTO’s cobalt-60 irradiation 
flowers [1-4]. MRI is distinct from most other imaging facility, at a dose rate of 10.1 Gy.min-1. Fricke (ferrous 
modalities in being able to provide multiple methods of ammonium sulphate) dosimeters were used to monitor 
contrast formation dependent on biophysical properties the irradiation doses. Tissue changes were assessed by 
across a wide range of spatial scales. For example, MRI immediately after (0 hr) and 43 hrs after irradiation, 
T2-weighted MRI is dependent on the interactions see Fig. 2. MR images of mango 2 (800 Gy, indicated 
of water molecules with their immediate molecular with red square in photo) are shown. The images 
environment. In fruit, interactions with macromolecules illustrate internal mango flesh (mesocarp) browning 
including carbohydrates and proteins predominate. developed over two days but not visible as defect or 
Alternatively, diffusion-weighted MRI produces images discolouration on the skin (epicarp). There was no 
in which contrast depends on the displacement of evidence of tissue damage relative to the two 
water molecules over a specific time period (typically unirradiated samples.
10-100 ms) in a specific direction. As water movement In diffusion-weighted imaging, signal strength (image 
is restricted by intracellular structures and cell walls contrast) is dependent on the physical restriction of 
DWI can be used as a probe of tissue pathology and water movement especially by cell walls and organelles. 
degradation. Fig. 3 demonstrates an extensive region of increased 
water diffusivity (orange pixels).
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 25
Life sciences and food
Non-destructive assessment of gamma irradiation on mango ripening and bruising 
Figure 1
The mangoes investigated: NMBP1243 mangoes gamma-irradiated with doses of either 0, 200, or 800 Gy; on the right after two days. 
Conclusion References
[1]  Joyce, D.C., et al., H-1-Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging of ripening 
Both T  and diffusion-weighted MRI clearly illustrated ‘Kensington Pride’ mango fruit. Functional Plant Biology, 2002. 29(7):  2 p. 873-879.
mango tissue changes associated with internal 
[2]  Clark, C.J. and MacFall, J.S., Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging of 
browning, some of which were not visible on the skin. ‘Fuyu’ persimmon fruit during development and ripening. Magnetic Resonance 
There was no evidence of changes in tissue properties Imaging, 2003. 21(6): p. 679-685.
associated with irradiation. [3]  Musse, M., et al., Monitoring the postharvest ripening of tomato fruit using 
MRI may also be valuable in investigations of radiation quantitative MRI and NMR relaxometry. Postharvest Biology and Technology, 2009. 53(1-2): p. 22-35.
damage to lenticels. In this case samples of mango skin 
[4]  Yooyongwech, S., et al., Changes in aquaporin gene expression and magnetic 
would be imaged at very high spatial resolution in an resonance imaging of water status in peach tree flower buds during dormancy. 
11.5 or 16 Tesla microimaging system. Physiologia Plantarum, 2008. 134(3): p. 522-533. 
26 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Non-destructive assessment of gamma irradiation on mango ripening and bruising 
Figure 2
Quantitative imaging (T2 weighted) of the development of internal mango browning (imaging was performed on a GE Syngo 3T MRI system with 
8-channel transmit/receive knee coil). Mesocarp (internal) browning (yellow and red area), evident as a 50-100% increase (in T2), is consistent with 
sugar hydrolysis and decreased local sugar concentration. In this example the absence of change in extent of the dark blue (low-T2) ‘halo’ around 
the seed illustrates the absence of significant ripening progression over the 43 hour measurement interval (consistent with absence of change in skin 
colour of this specimen).
Figure 3
Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) image of the development of mango browning (cf. Fig. 2). Mesocarp (internal) browning is evident as 50-100% 
increase in ADC consistent with the breakdown of cell walls over an extended volume of tissue. (Concentric rings are a parallel image artefact which 
can be eliminated by use of an alternative imaging protocol). 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 27
Life sciences and food
James Doutch (left) and Elliot Gilbert 
preparing the RVA for use on the  
Quokka SANS instrument. The RVA allows 
cooking processes in starch to be structurally 
characterised in situ.
28 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Simultaneous measurement of structure and 
viscosity changes during starch cooking
James Doutch1, Mark Bason2, Ferdi Franceschini1, Kevin James2, Douglas Clowes1, Elliot P. Gilbert1
1ANSTO, 2Perten Instruments
Starch is the key carbohydrate in the human diet and the major storage structure in plants. 
The structure of the starch granule is surprisingly complex and has a number of hierarchical levels 
extending from the micron- to nano-scale. These structural characteristics confirm considerable 
botanic variation, or differences between plants and this, in turn, causes considerable differences 
in the nutritional and industrial properties of different starches which form part of our diet. This 
particularly manifests itself with differences in cooking properties. This study characterised this 
behaviour using simultaneous Rapid Visco Analysis (RVA) and small-angle neutron scattering [1].
Starch granules and pasting rapid swelling and partial amylose leaching, particularly 
following gelatinisation, that a rapid rise in viscosity is 
Starch is deposited by plants in granules that show observed. Under conditions of both heat and shear, the 
considerable botanical variation in shape and size granules are partially disrupted and the leached amylose 
distribution; generally granules range from 2 μm to  aligns, leading to a reduction in viscosity in most cases. 
100 μm in dimension. Most of the granule is composed On subsequent cooling, the hydrated polymers re-
of essentially linear amylose and highly branched associate and the material undergoes a transition to 
amylopectin. The ratio varies considerably between plant a gel, which is observed as a ‘setback’ or increase in 
species. The granules are further subdivided into growth viscosity. The corresponding changes in nanostructure 
ring structures, which alternate between amorphous and however had not previously been characterised.
semi-crystalline structures. The semi-crystalline rings 
have a repeating lamellar structure of periodicity 90 – Simultaneous SANS and RVA
100 Å. This is easily observed using neutron scattering 
(small-angle neutron scattering – SANS) and x-ray Neutrons have several key advantages for analysing 
scattering (small-angle X-ray scattering – SAXS) [2]. the nanostructure of food systems, in particular 
Other sub-structures such as superhelices and blocklets their relatively high penetration through dense or 
are thought to exist within the granule [3]. concentrated samples and sample environments,  
The pasting properties of starch are readily studied as well as the ability to avoid beam damage.
using the RVA unit, in which slurries of starch are An industrial RVA unit, modified to allow a neutron 
subjected to a defined program of heating and cooling beam to pass through it, is shown in Fig. 1. This was 
cycles which allows the cooking properties of starches then used on the Quokka SANS instrument at OPAL 
to be reproducibly tested, for example, prior to sale. to collect simultaneous SANS and RVA data using a 
This allows for grain quality control and can be used to typical industrial test cycle of heating and cooling, while 
assess viscosity changes during innovative processing hydrated with deuterated water. The cycle used in 
techniques. this study was 13 minutes long with the starch heated 
During a heating and cooling cycle in excess water, to 95°C over the course of 5 minutes, held at that 
several changes in the RVA profile are observed. Firstly, temperature for 2 minutes and then subjected to  
a sufficient number of starch granules undergo such a gradual cooling for the remainder of the profile. 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 29
Life sciences and food
Simultaneous measurement of structure and viscosity changes during starch cooking
Figure 1 Figure 2
(a)
(b)
Modified Rapid Visco Analyser assembly for SANS 
study. (B) indicates hollow impeller assembly through 
which neutrons pass.
A fractal structure in the gels
Fig. 2 shows simultaneous scattering and RVA profiles  SANS data transposed with RVA viscosity profiles as a function of time - (a) waxy 
for two starches: the scattering at low-q values increases maize (b) maize; Black and white regions denote low and high intensity respectively 
quite dramatically for both starches at the point at which (logarithmic scale).
the viscosity first starts to rise. This implies the formation 
of large scale structures and occurs after approximately 
4 minutes. The scattering for waxy (amylopectin only) spheres or fractal structures. We were able to 
maize is shown in detail in Fig. 3. Here, the periodic differentiate between these possibilities by placing the 
lamellar structure is destroyed after 4 minutes and data on an absolute scale, a task easily achieved with 
replaced by power law scattering, in which the scattered SANS. This clearly demonstrated that the gel structures 
intensity decays by some negative power with increasing had the form of fractals on the nanometre scale. The 
q. This power law scattering shows variation through the data was analysed using the method of Teixeira [4]. 
remaining time of the experiment. In contrast to other structural interpretations in the 
Power law behaviour in small-angle scattering literature, only this structural model is able to yield  
experiments can indicate a number of structural the correct volume fractions expected for the  
possibilities; for example, regular shapes like cylinders, systems studied.
30 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Simultaneous measurement of structure and viscosity changes during starch cooking
Figure 3
SANS data as a function of time during RVA measurement for waxy maize. The lamellar peak at ~0.065Å-1 is seen to disappear after 4 minutes, being 
replaced by decays that follow a power law with variable exponent between -2.24 to -2.32.
This analysis yielded some interesting variations References
between different botanical starch varieties. In particular, [1]  Doutch, J., Bason, M., Franceschini, F., James, K., Clowes, D., Gilbert, E. P. 
potato, tapioca and waxy maize form aggregates which (2012). Structural changes during starch pasting using simultaneous Rapid 
Visco Analysis and small-angle neutron scattering. Carbohydrate Polymers, 
are relatively large (~200 Å) compared with wheat and 88(3), 1061-1071.
normal maize (~90 Å). There were also interesting [2]  Blazek, J., & Gilbert, E. P. (2011). Application of small-angle X-ray and neutron 
differences in fractal or Hausdorff dimension. This scattering techniques to the characterisation of starch structure: A review. 
gives an indication of the morphological complexity Carbohydrate Polymers, 85, 281–293.
of the system. We deduced that tapioca and potato [3]  Perez, S, Bertoft, E, (2010), The molecular structures of starch components 
gels appear to have quite linear and relatively simple and their contribution to the architecture of starch granules: A comprehensive 
review, Starch, 62, 389-420.
structure, whereas maize and wheat gels are much 
[4]  Teixeira, J, (1988) Small-Angle Scattering by Fractal Systems, Journal of 
more complex and the aggregates quite polydisperse, Applied Crystallography, 21, 781-785.
while waxy maize is intermediate between the two 
groups. These nanoscale characteristics show excellent 
correlation with the macroscopic properties of the gels 
and invite further study. The nanoscale parameters 
obtained from simultaneous SANS/RVA can be used  
to better understand structural transitions during  
starch gelation, across a wide variety of industrially 
relevant conditions.
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 31
Life sciences and food
 Ecnlivmiraotne mcheannt gaend
32 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Environment and climate change
Environment and Understanding and improving our environment is essential for the continuing prosperity of our planet. ANSTO’s studies look at many aspects of our  climate change environmental systems from the impact of humans on the environment to  how we can mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Over the past 12 months, ANSTO’s studies have investigated ways of 
improving groundwater management in Western Australia; looked inside  
the feathers of migratory Mutton Birds to better inform our understanding  
of trace metal pollutants in our marine environment; and performed  
sustainability studies on forest soils subject to severe bushfires followed  
by high intensity storms.
Our researchers have also undertaken studies to better understand and  
predict the increasing number of high-intensity tropical cyclones to help  
reduce the widespread flooding, economic and social disruption and potential 
loss of life they cause for Australia’s coastal communities.
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 33
Environment and  
climate change
Karina Meredith in the Institute for 
Environmental Research working in 
the Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry 
Laboratory.
34 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Groundwater ‘age’ assessment in the Gnangara 
Mound, Western Australia 
Karina Meredith1, Dioni I. Cendón1, Jon-Philippe Pigois2, Suzanne Hollins1, Geraldine Jacobsen1
1ANSTO, 2Government of Western Australia, Department of Water
ANSTO’s study of the Perth Basin aquifers determined the age of groundwater to be 23,000 to 
35,000 years old. Although this result was expected, what was surprising was the identification of 
an area of younger modern groundwater at a depth of 300 metres below ground level. This area is 
of prime interest for water resource managers because fresh water is replenishing the otherwise 
isolated underground system.
The Gnangara groundwater system is the largest utilised source of groundwater in the southwest of 
Australia and supplies up to 70% of Perth’s potable water during periods of drought. Its sustainable 
use is crucial for future development in and around Perth. Naturally occurring radioactive isotopes 
such as tritium and radiocarbon are ideal tools to date the groundwater. By understanding the age 
of the groundwater, we can then determine how frequently the water is being replenished and how 
much of the resource is available for use. Strong competition for this limited water resource means 
that understanding its hydrology is essential for sustainable groundwater management.
The Gnangara Mound and groundwater How is groundwater dated? 
system 
It is important to understand how frequently water is 
The Gnangara groundwater system covers an area of being replenished in the aquifers. This can be achieved 
approximately 2,200 km2 and constitutes the largest by determining the age of the water, and to do this we 
utilised source of groundwater in the southwest of use two naturally occurring radioactive isotopes that 
Australia (Fig. 1). These aquifers can supply up to 70% are found in water. Tritium, 3H is a short-lived isotope 
of Perth’s potable water when river water is not available of hydrogen with a half-life of 12.43 years. It forms 
(such as during drought periods) and its sustainable part of the water molecule and therefore can be used 
use is of major importance for future development in the to directly date the water. Radiocarbon dating is the 
Perth Basin. Aquifers are rock structures or sediments most accessible and widely used technique to date 
located beneath the ground that are saturated and ‘older’ groundwater resources. Radiocarbon (14C) 
permeable enough to allow economic quantities of is the radioactive isotope of carbon and has a half-
groundwater to be extracted. Groundwater from these life of around 5,700 years. It is produced naturally in 
vast aquifer systems support agriculture, industry the atmosphere by cosmic rays and is subsequently 
and private domestic use, and also sustain significant oxidised to CO2, where it mixes into the lower 
groundwater dependent ecosystems that carry social, atmosphere and is then incorporated into the biosphere 
cultural and environmental values. There is increasing and hydrosphere. The ubiquity of carbon in groundwater 
pressure on this supply, resulting from irrigation makes it an ideal isotope for dating groundwater. 
demands and urban development. Strong competition Dating groundwater using radiocarbon (14C) is 
for this limited water resource, along with warmer complicated by the fact that the carbon may come from 
weather and a decrease in rainfall from climate change a variety of sources of different ages, for example some 
has led to reduced groundwater levels. carbonates may come from very old sources and contain 
Information obtained from the analysis of stable isotopes no radiocarbon. The presence of this ‘dead’ carbon must 
of O, H and C, and the radioactive isotopes of C and H, be corrected for, in order to get a reliable age. This can 
used together with hydrochemical information, provides be overcome by accounting for the major hydrochemical 
the necessary tools for understanding groundwater age and physical processes that are likely to influence the 
and hence recharge patterns within this large water carbon chemistry of a groundwater sample [1]. 
resource system.
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 35
Environment and  
climate change
Groundwater ‘age’ assessment in the Gnangara Mound, Western Australia 
Figure 1
 
Location map of the North Gnangara Mound study area with well locations and generalised groundwater flow direction for the Gnangara Mound in 
relation to the Perth Basin. 
How do we analyse groundwater chemistry inorganic carbon (δ13CDIC) are analysed by liberating 
and isotopes? CO2 from each sample and injecting it into an isotope 
ratio mass spectrometer. For 3H analysis, water samples 
The chemical composition of water samples are distilled and electrolytically enriched prior to being 
is measured by inductively coupled plasma- analysed by the liquid scintillation method. For 14C 
atomic emission spectroscopy for cations and ion analysis, the total DIC (dissolved inorganic carbon) 
chromatography for anions. Stable isotopes of dissolved is processed into CO2 by acidifying the samples and 
36 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Groundwater ‘age’ assessment in the Gnangara Mound, Western Australia 
Figure 2
extracting the liberated CO2 gas using a custom-built 
extraction line. The 14C activities were measured by 
accelerator mass spectrometry using ANSTO’s 2MV 
tandetron accelerator, STAR. 
Groundwater recharge and carbon evolution 
Hydrochemical variability was observed in groundwaters 
abstracted from the different aquifers within the 
Gnangara groundwater system [2]. Fig. 2 shows the 
recharge path of rainfall and/or river waters through the 
various aquifer units until it forms groundwater in the 
interconnected pores of the sand and limestone units. 
Once groundwater from these units reaches the Perth 
Basin aquifers (located more than 200 m below the 
ground surface) they generally form palaeowater or  
old groundwater. 
The groundwater is recharged by rainfall which passes 
through the soil zone, and dissolves carbon on the 
way. Thus, groundwater in the sandy aquifer inherits 
13
Groundwater recharge path into the Perth Basin aquifers through the a δ CDIC, which is similar to the signature of soil zone 
sandy aquifer and carbonate unit. CO2 (i.e. ~25%). Groundwater from this unit also had 
Figure 3
Bivariate plots of measured 14C activity vs. (a) δ13C 3DIC and (b) H activity. 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 37
Environment and  
climate change
Groundwater ‘age’ assessment in the Gnangara Mound, Western Australia 
Figure 4
Bivariate plots of depth vs. (a) pH (b) Ca2+ (c) δ13CDIC and (d) saturation indices for calcite for groundwaters from the top ~60 m of the study area. 
high measured 14C activities (70 to ~100 pMC) and much younger than anticipated, ranging from modern 
detectable 3H activities (Fig. 3) indicating exchange to ~2,000 years old. Fig. 5 is a geological cross-section 
with the 14C-active soil zone, leaving it open to modern running east to west through the study site showing the 
carbon exchange. location of younger groundwaters recharged into the 
Groundwaters originating from the overlying sandy Perth Basin. This is occurring where low permeability 
aquifer have high concentrations of CO  liberated from units are not present, forming a recharge ‘window’. 2
the oxidation of organic matter. As this acidic recharge The identified recharge area is of prime interest for water 
enters the carbonate aquifer, dissolution is enhanced. resource management because not only is it important 
Consequently, groundwater pH, Ca2+ concentration that it is left to actively recharge fresh water into the 
and δ13CDIC values increase (Fig. 4). Groundwaters deep aquifers, but it also needs to be protected from 
also move towards carbonate saturation further point-source contamination. For example, application of 
implying a shift from open to closed system conditions. pesticides to soils in this area could lead to a higher risk 
Groundwater infiltrating through limestone units such of contamination in an otherwise protected groundwater 
as these found in Gnangara, can have up to 50% of resource. 
its HCO -3  contributed from a ‘dead’ carbon source Identification of areas of recharge into confined aquifers 
making the waters appear older. Therefore, uncorrected is important for managing water allocations and will 
radiocarbon results can appear much older and are help with calibrating physical hydrogeological models 
not considered representative ages in this groundwater of a groundwater system. The understanding of 
environment. aquifer interaction in this area is crucial to sustainable 
management of confined aquifer abstraction in a  
Identification of recharge areas within the drying climate.
Gnangara Mound
Acknowledgements
Radiocarbon corrections were applied to all groundwater 
samples according to the main hydrogeochemical The authors would like to thank the Government of 
processes identified [3]. The corrected radiocarbon Western Australia, Department of Water (DoW) for 
ages of groundwater from the Perth Basin aquifers providing the funding and support for this project.  
were generally found to be old (23,000 to 35,000 years Thank you to Geoff Sadgrove from DoW for his field 
old). However, in the south-eastern corner of the study work contribution and technical assistance. 
area (sites NG03 and NG09, see Fig.1) they were 
38 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Groundwater ‘age’ assessment in the Gnangara Mound, Western Australia 
Figure 5
Geological cross-section with corrected groundwater age and flow direction (arrows) for the study site (refer to Figure 1 for cross section location A-A’).  
M = modern (<60 years old) and SM = sub-modern (>60 but <1,000 years old).
1 3
5
4
2
(1) In field set-up for sample collection and analysis for groundwater dating, middle, (2) Groundwater sampling in Gnangara Mound  
(Karina Meredith), (3) Groundwater sampling in Gnangara Mound (Jon-Philippe Pigois [foreground] and Geoff Sadgrove [background], Department of 
Water, WA, (4) Aerial photo of Yeal Lake in the study area, (5) Yeal Lake dry 12/3/2007. Photos courtesy of Sarah Bourke. 
References
[1]   Kalin, R.M., Radiocarbon dating of groundwater systems. In: Cook P.G., 
Herczeg A.L. (Ed.) Environmental tracers in subsurface hydrology. Kluwer, 
Boston, pp 112–144 (1999).
[2]   Meredith, K., Cendón, D., Hollins, S. North Gnangara Groundwater Dating, 
Western Australia. A report prepared for The Government of Western Australia 
(WA), Department of Water. ANSTO/C-1084 (2010).
[3]   Meredith, K., Cendón, D.I., Pigois, J.-P., Hollins, S., Jacobsen, G., Using 14C 
and 3H to delineate a recharge ‘window’ into the Perth Basin aquifers, North 
Gnangara groundwater system, Western Australia, Science of The Total 
Environment, 414, 456-469 (2012).
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 39
Environment and  
climate change
Studies of the Flesh-footed Shearwater are 
helping scientists understand the effects of 
plastic waste on sea birds.
40 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Trace metal distribution in feathers from migratory, 
pelagic birds using high-resolution synchrotron X-ray 
fluorescence microscopy
Nicholas Howell1, Jennifer Lavers2, David Paterson3 Richard Garrett1, Richard Banati1,4
1ANSTO, 2Institute for Marine & Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, 3Australian Synchrotron,  
4University of Sydney
Increased trace metal concentrations in feathers from migratory birds are regularly used in 
ecotoxicology (the study of the effects of toxic chemicals on biological organisms) as indicators of 
individual, population and environmental health. For most routine sampling and analysis, usually only 
parts of feathers are sampled.
However such sampling procedures have major short-comings because they ignore variations in 
feather development and how the contaminant enters the bird’s cells during feather growth. 
In order to gain a better understanding of contaminant distribution along the full length of a feather, 
ANSTO used the X-ray fluorescent microprobe at the Australian Synchrotron to obtain high resolution 
elemental images of breast feathers collected from chicks of Flesh-footed Shearwater (Puffinus 
carneipes) also known locally as Mutton Birds.
The study revealed, with exceptional clarity, previously unknown distribution patterns of trace metals 
necessary for healthy development as well as showing how the birds absorb metals that come from 
major pollutants such as micro-plastics, disintegrating plastic waste that is increasingly affecting a 
wide range of marine animals including sea birds.
The Flesh-footed Shearwater Due to their global distribution and reliance on marine 
resources, sea birds function as indicators of marine 
The Flesh-footed Shearwater is a trans-equatorial environmental contamination. Ecotoxicology often uses 
migrant seabird that is a common local visitor to the feather chemistry and composition to infer information 
waters of the continental shelf and slope of south-west about the individual, population and environment of the 
Australia and around Lord Howe Island, which both bird during the period of feather growth [2-6]. As most 
serve as breeding and foraging grounds [1]. The Flesh- feathers are replaced yearly, they contain valuable 
footed Shearwater is listed under the Japan-Australia indicators of the state of the bird and its environment 
Migratory Bird Agreement (JAMBA) and is categorised over this period, which can be days to weeks [4]. 
as ‘vulnerable’ by the Threatened Species Conservation The distinct yet consistent migratory patterns of the 
Act (1995) in NSW, ‘rare’ in South Australia and ‘in Flesh-footed Shearwater allow avian chemoecological 
decline’ in New Zealand. Surveys of populations only methods to be used to gain complementary data 
go back ~40 years but decline is evident through more from distinct locations across the globe. Flesh-footed 
recent work [1]. Flesh-footed Shearwaters generally Shearwater breast feathers are replaced on the 
pair for life and will return to the same burrow every wintering grounds in the southern hemisphere [7]. The 
year to breed from September to May. Upon completion breast feathers that were used in this experiment were 
of the breeding season, birds from Western Australian collected from the Lord Howe Island colonies. These 
colonies migrate north across the Indian ocean to the samples contain information regarding the overall health 
Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman while birds from Lord of the bird during the breeding season when the birds 
Howe Island and New Zealand move north across the are foraging within the Tasman Sea.
Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan and southern Sea of 
Okhotsk (Fig.1,2) [1].
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 41
Environment and  
climate change
Trace metal distribution in feathers from migratory, pelagic birds using high resolution synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy
Figure 1 Figure 2
Flesh-footed Shearwater (Puffinus Carnepes). Documented and proposed migratory 
patterns of some breeding colonies of Flesh-footed Shearwater off Lord Howe Island 
and south-west Western Australia.
Marine birds and micro-plastics
During migration, birds pick up plastics floating 
on the ocean surface. Decaying plastics have 
become a globally widespread and abundant marine 
environmental contaminant [7,8] and a major source 
of persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals. 
These bio-accumulate particularly through the course of 
feeding of the birds’ offspring [3]. 
The ingestion of plastic by marine birds has been The map shows the tracks of individual Flesh-footed Shearwater birds 
well-documented [8], particularly in Flesh-footed tagged with light loggers follows their migration to the Sea of Japan from 
Lord Howe Island (courtesy Dr Tim Reid, University of Tasmania).
Shearwaters, often leading to gastrointestinal blockage 
and death [3].
While larger pieces of plastic are mostly a mechanical Elemental imaging using X-ray fluorescence 
hazard for the ingesting bird, microplastics are particles microscopy
of synthetic organic polymers <5mm in size; typically too 
small to cause physical damage [9]. However, while The X-ray fluorescence microscopy beamline [10] at 
floating in the marine environment for many years or the Australian Synchrotron (Fig.3) was used to produce 
decades, plastic items act as sorbents for other high-definition elemental images (Fig. 4) of breast 
contaminants, such as persistent organic pollutants  feathers collected from Flesh-footed Shearwater chicks 
and heavy metals [9]. The impact of microplastic on Lord Howe Island. The scanning X-ray fluorescence 
contamination is yet to be fully realised, though it  microprobe used a 16 keV incident energy beam 
may lead to higher accumulation of persistent organic focussed to several microns to create images with pixel 
pollutants and heavy metals in marine surface feeders sizes between 5-70 μm. This technique allowed us to 
as the bird is likely to ingest much more over a  reconstruct quantitative elemental concentration maps 
lifetime [9]. or images of the feathers for a wide range of elements 
with an atomic number greater than 19 (potassium) as 
well as look at patterns of distribution within regions 
of interest (Fig. 5). Fig. 6 indicates the anatomy of a 
feather.
42 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Trace metal distribution in feathers from migratory, pelagic birds using high resolution synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy
Figure 3
Nicholas Howell and Jennifer Lavers from the University of Tasmania, used the Australian Synchrotron’s XFM beamline for their research. Photo 
courtesy the Australian Synchrotron.
Figure 4
zero maximum
X-ray fluorescence microscopy images of Flesh-footed Shearwater chick breast feathers showing distributions of (left to right) Bromine, Zinc,  
Arsenic, Calcium.
It is a common sampling procedure, such as in stable heterogenity of the elemental distribution in individual 
isotope measurement, to only sub-sample the feather feathers reduce the risk of over- or underestimation of 
by cutting off the tip and using it for further analysis [2]. population parameters. 
However, our results show intricate patterns that reflect Of particular interest is the distribution of elements that 
growths pattern Fleshfooted Shearwater chicks that are known to be essential for healthy plumage growth. 
sub-sampling and analysis would normally miss. A better When reconstructing the image based on zinc (Zn) 
understanding of the hitherto unknown within-sample concentration, a striking regular banding pattern is 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 43
Environment and  
climate change
Trace metal distribution in feathers from migratory, pelagic birds using high resolution synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy
Figure 5
X-ray fluorescence microscopy image showing Zn banding patterns along the length of the feather.
observed running the length of the feather and radiating to understand challenges to its physiology are of interest 
out from the calamus and rachis into the vanes (Fig. 5). from a conservation and environmental monitoring point 
This shape of the banding is consistent with the of view. High-resolution X-ray fluorescence microscopy 
established mechanism of feather growth [11] The allows the acquisition of so far unseen two-dimensional 
distribution of Calcium is localised in high concentrations elemental distribution maps and highlights the significant 
to the base of the calamus. It forms a corset-shaped uptake of contaminants by migratory birds. 
structure at the calamus to skin interface but is scarce Together with knowledge about the birds’ migratory 
along the length of the rachis. Arsenic can be observed route, elemental distribution data from individual feathers 
uniformly along the length of the rachis but is diminished can provide new and more detailed information about 
in the calamus. The most abundant element observed the time period of up-take and thus the origin of the bio-
using this technique is Bromine (Br). Br is present in accumulated contamination. If the up-take pattern of a 
high concentrations throughout the feather structure. It is normal trace element is found to be disturbed, there may 
readily concentrated from sea water by marine algae potentially also be an opportunity to develop a biomarker 
and bacteria which are then ingested by organisms for any adverse health effects of pollutants. Future scope 
feeding at the surface [12-14]. Iron (Fe) can be observed of work includes the more systematic study of species 
almost exclusively in the vanes of the feather and is variations as well as variations in the distribution maps 
barely detectable in the rachis. Occasional spots of iron for normal and contaminant elements due to changes in 
detected on the calamus correspond to contamination feed intake.
from blood or tissue remaining after plucking.
Acknowledgement
Outlook
We acknowledge funding from the W.V. Scott Charitable 
The challenges facing the Flesh-footed Shearwater Trust and field assistance provided by Ian Hutton, 
include plastic ingestion, contamination, habitat loss, Curator of the Lord Howe Island Museum.
and by-catch in fisheries [1]. The species represents a 
convenient indicator of marine environmental health, 
locally and internationally, therefore further efforts made 
44 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Trace metal distribution in feathers from migratory, pelagic birds using high resolution synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy
Figure 6 
References
[1]  Department of Sustainability, E., Water, Population and Communities, Ardenna 
carneipes in Species Profile and Threats Database, in Species Profile and 
Threats Database 2012, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, 
Population and Communities. 
2]  Bortolotti, G.R., Flaws and pitfalls in the chemical analysis of feathers: 
bad news-good news for avian chemoecology and toxicology. Ecological 
Applications, 2010. 20(6): p. 9.
[3]  Bond, A.L. and J.L. Lavers, Trace Element Concentration in Feathers of Flesh- 
footed Shearwaters (Puffinus carneipes) from Across Their Breeding Range. 
Archives of Environmental Contamination Toxicology, 2011. 61: p. 318-326.
[4]  Bortolotti, G.R. and J.C. Barlow, Potential use of feather chemistry as an 
indicator of relative growth. Wilson Bulletin, 1986. 98(4): p. 516-525.
[5]  Bortolotti, G.R., et al., Mineral profiles of Spruse Grouse feathers show habitat 
affinities. Journal of Wildlife Management, 1989. 53(3): p. 811-817.
[6]  Moreno, R., et al., Seabird feathers as monitors of the levels and persistence of 
heavy metal pollution after the Prestige oil spill. Environmental Pollution, 2011. 
159(10): p. 2454-2460.
[7]  Marchant, S. and P.J.H. (eds), Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and 
Antarctic Birds. Volume 1: Ratites to Ducks. 1990, Melbourne: Oxford University 
Press.
[8]  Azzarello, M.Y., Van Vleet, E. S., Marine birds and plastic pollution Marine 
Ecology Progress Series, 1987. 37: p. 295-303.
[9]  Cole, M., et al., Microplastics as contaminants in the marine environment: A 
review. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2011. 62(12): p. 2588-2597.
[10] Paterson, D., et al., The X-ray Fluorescence Microscopy Beamline at the 
Australian Synchrotron. AIP Conference Proceedings, 2011. 1365(1):  
p. 219-222.
[11] Prum, R.O., Development and evolutionary origin of feathers. Journal of 
Experimental Zoology, 1999. 285(4): p. 291-306.
[12] Moore, M.R., et al., Trace organic compounds in the marine environment. 
Photograph of a Flesh-footed Shearwater feather showing the calamus, Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2002. 45(1–12): p. 62-68.
rachis, vanes and barbs. [13] Saenko, G.N., et al., Concentration of lodine and bromine by plants in the seas 
of Japan and Okhotsk. Marine Biology, 1978. 47(3): p. 243-250.
[14] Wan, Y., et al., Contribution of Synthetic and Naturally Occurring Organobromine 
Compounds to Bromine Mass in Marine Organisms. Environmental Science & 
Technology, 2010. 44(16): p. 6068-6073.
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 45
Environment and  
climate change
The ANTARES accelerator, used by Michael 
Hotchkis, is used for tracing plutonium 
fallout in the Australian environment.
46 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Forest soil erosion in the wake of major bushfires
Michael Hotchkis1, Hugh Smith2,3, Gary Sheridan3, Petter Nyman3, Patrick Lane3, David Child1,  
Geraldine Jacobsen1
1ANSTO, 2University of Plymouth, UK, 3University of Melbourne
Severe bushfires, such as Australia’s 2009 Victorian ‘Black Saturday’ bushfires, expose the soil in 
bushland. Subsequent high intensity storms – possibly once-in-a-hundred year events – can then 
cause significant erosion with massive debris flows. This can happen even in small creek systems.
This study used fallout radionuclides (radioactive atoms) as tracers to better understand the 
processes that influence the evolution of landscapes experiencing these events.
The fate of the forest soil is particularly important because it can tell us whether or not existing 
conditions are sustainable. For example, if severe bushfires followed by severe storms causes 
soil depletion, we know there will be damage to the soil and subsequently, the forest, rather than a 
sustainable equilibrium.
Fallout plutonium isotopes, measured at trace levels using the ANTARES accelerator, were used for 
the first time in this kind of study.
Study area soil or sediment. 137Cs has a half-life of 30 years, so this 
marker is diminishing as the years go by. Plutonium, in 
The upper part of Myrtle Creek, in the Ovens River particular 239Pu and 240Pu, also forms a major component 
basin of North East Victoria, forms a small 23 hectare of fallout and, like caesium, binds well to fine particles. 
catchment, covered in dry open eucalypt forest (see With half-lives of several thousand years, the fallout 
map, Fig. 1). This area was completely burnt by one signal from Pu isotopes provides a long-term marker 
of the numerous high severity bushfires which swept in soils and sediments. Plutonium has only recently 
Victoria in February 2009. In the first few days of March been used in this kind of work [1], as a result of the 
2009, several storm cells passed over the catchment, recent development of accelerator mass spectrometry 
producing short duration, high intensity rainfall (around for actinides. In the present study, both caesium and 
50 mm per hour rainfall rate). Even in a small catchment plutonium were used. 
such as Myrtle Creek, the water pouring off the hillsides 
into the creek generated significant debris flows, moving Sampling and measurements
hundreds of tons of material including gravel, sediments, 
tree trunks and small boulders (see Fig. 2). 137Cs can be measured by gamma spectrometry in large 
samples. Pu is not detectable in this way, but can be 
Fallout radionuclides as tracers measured with high sensitivity, even in small samples, 
by accelerator mass spectrometry. For this work, the 
Fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, carried Pu isotopes were measured using ANSTO’s ANTARES 
out mainly in the late 1950s and early 1960s, distributed accelerator. We could easily measure samples with  
radionuclides all around the world. Certain longer lived 0.1 picogram of Pu per gram of soil.
radionuclides remain where they fell, in soil, sediments Three different types of locations in the catchment were 
and elsewhere in the environment. These radionuclides sampled:
act as markers in the soil or sediment and can then be 1)  Hillslope surface soils, to identify typical material 
used to trace the movements of such material. Of these, which may contribute to downstream deposition. 
137Cs fallout has been used widely in erosion studies, These samples had the highest levels of fallout 
as it tends to be firmly attached to the fine particles in radionuclides.
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 47
Environment and  
climate change
Forest soil erosion in the wake of major bushfires
Figure 1
Contour map of the Myrtle Creek catchment, ranging in elevation from 430 to 770m. Sampled sediment deposition sites are shown, with the relative 
contribution from hillslope and channel bank source contributions.
2)  Channel banks. As the creek floods, it cuts into the Further study of the results with respect to the types of 
banks and stream bed, deepening the watercourse. locations sampled shows that hillslope erosion is the 
Hence, material from the banks is swept into the flow major contributor to sediment deposition during the peak 
and is also deposited downstream. These samples of the storm. Subsequent deposition, following the peak 
are comprised of sub-soil material and contain the flow, accumulated in inner channel deposits and in the 
least amount of fallout. terminal fan, is dominated by channel bank sourced 
3)  Deposits were sampled, such as levees left behind material.
at the height of the storm flow. In all cases, we Carbon dating, using the STAR accelerator, has also 
extracted fine sediments from the sampled material been performed on past debris flows at Myrtle Creek. 
for our measurements. These show that severe erosion events, such as those 
observed here in 2009, might occur at intervals of 
Results several hundred years in susceptible locations.
In combination, these observations allow conclusions 
Fig. 3 shows that caesium (137Cs) and plutonium to be drawn about the erosion processes occurring at 
(239Pu+240Pu) are well-correlated, confirming that this site. Despite the low frequency of these events, 
plutonium is as valid as the more commonly used the results indicate that they are major contributors to 
caesium for sediment tracing. As expected, the highest the long-term erosion of forest soils. Although the data 
and the lowest activities are seen, respectively, in the here are limited, there are indications that the erosion 
hillslope and the channel bank samples. The activities of rate exceeds the soil formation rate in this situation, 
the deposits fall in between; the relative contributions to leading to net soil loss. Soil loss leads to long-term 
each deposit site sampled can be derived from a simple environmental impacts.
mixing model with relative contributions shown on the This study, along with that of another site in Victoria, 
map in Fig. 1. is reported in detail in a recent issue of the journal 
Geomorphology [2].
48 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Forest soil erosion in the wake of major bushfires
Figure 2
Photos of Myrtle Creek showing significant debris deposits left behind after sudden intense storm events in 2009. (b) Sampling locations are indicated 
with arrows. Note the burnt-out trees and denuded hill slopes resulting from the bushfires (photos courtesy Hugh Smith). 
Figure 3
137Cs and 239+240Pu activities of samples from the Myrtle Creek catchment.
References
[1]   Everett, S. E., Tims, S. G., Hancock, G. J., Bartley, R. and Fifield, L. K., 
Comparison of Pu and 137Cs as tracers of soil and sediment transport in a 
terrestrial environment. J. Environ. Radioact. 99, 383-393 (2008).
[2]   Smith, H.G., Sheridan, G.J., Nyman, P., Child, D.P., Lane, P.N.J., Hotchkis, 
M.A.C., and Jacobsen, G.E., Quantifying sources of fine sediment supplied 
to post-fire debris flows using fallout radionuclide tracers, Geomorphology 
139–140, 403-15 (2012).
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 49
Environment and  
climate change
Member of Cosmogenic-Exposure 
Dating Group in front of 10Be beam line at 
ANTARES. (L-R) Charles Mifsud, Steven 
Kotevski, Toshi Fujioka, David Fink and 
Krista Simon. 
50 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Ancient mega floods in the monsoon tropics of 
Australia coincide with climatic instability
Toshiyuki Fujioka1, David Fink1, Gerald Nanson2, Charles Mifsud1
1ANSTO, 2University of Wollongong
Recent climate predictions suggest Australia will experience more high-intensity tropical cyclones and 
flooding leading to extensive economic and social disruption. 
These predictions are based on modelling global warming scenarios using short-duration historical 
cyclonic records. In order to improve future modelling of cyclone frequency, we need to find  evidence 
of extreme events occurring over the past few tens of thousands of years.   
At Jacks Waterhole, a narrow gorge about 500 m wide along the Durack River, in the Kimberley 
region of north-west Australia, numerous sets of meter-sized, mega-ton boulders are found stacked 
into semi-circular piles. These piles of imbricated boulders are due to massive storms and floods 
occurring during the past when rainfall conditions were vastly different from today. Using the novel 
technique of in situ cosmogenic-exposure dating and ANSTO’s Accelerator Mass Spectrometry 
ANTARES Facility, ANSTO scientists were able to measure the time when these massive boulders 
were plucked from bedrock and flipped into piles. Initial results indicate that mega floods in the 
Kimberley region occurred about 15,000, 130,000 and 250,000 years ago - exactly during the period 
when earth’s climate was changing rapidly at the end of the last 3 major ice ages. During these 
periods, sea-surface temperatures were increasing leading to increased atmospheric moisture 
supply and sea level rise associated with polar-ice melt. These results indicate that rapid increase of 
global temperature and future increases in global sea-level, may increase the magnitude of tropical 
cyclones and extreme flood events.
Assessing the floods
In this study, we determined the timing of extreme floods 
Australia has recently experienced a series of in the monsoon tropics of Australia that displaced and 
catastrophic floods associated with tropical cyclones overturned massive boulders plucked from underlying 
and storms. While enhanced rainfall potentially helps bedrock. The dating technique utilises the measurement 
agriculture to recover from long-standing drought, it of the concentration of the long-lived radioactive nuclide, 
can cause tremendous damage to urban communities 10Be (half-life ~1.39 million years), which is produced 
and natural environments. Assessing risks of such in Earth’s surface rocks via continuous bombardment 
hazardous events is of significant public concern in of cosmic-ray particles. We applied this technique 
terms of the sustainable use of resources under our to imbricated clusters of gigantic boulders at Jack’s 
current rapidly changing climate. Waterhole along the Durack River in the Kimberley in 
There have been numerous investigations on how northern Australia. 
current global warming affects the occurrence of tropical 
cyclones and thus flood events [1], but the outcome The study site
is somewhat controversial. Although tropical cyclone 
activity appears to have increased in Australia over The Kimberley belongs to the monsoon tropics of 
the past decade, the short nature of the historical and northern Australia; its climate is highly seasonal ranging 
instrumental records prevents climate scientists from from tropical to semi-arid where the region receives 90% 
unambiguously decoupling the anthropogenic influence of annual rainfall during the summer monsoon period 
from the natural cyclone systems, thus making future (November–April). Occasional, but often intense, storms 
predictions difficult. and cyclones lead to river flooding causing one of the 
main natural hazards for the local population. 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 51
Environment and  
climate change
Ancient mega floods in the monsoon tropics of Australia coincide with climatic instability
Figure 1
Location of the massive flood-generated boulder site at Jack’s Waterhole in the Durack River, the Kimberley, 
northern Australia; the exposed and hidden surfaces of six boulders were sampled for dating of mega floods using 
cosmic-ray-produced radionuclide 10Be. 
Jack’s Waterhole is located in the middle to lower results in platy boulder shapes of a few to several 
sections of the Durack River, about 70 km upstream metres in the long-axis and 0.5 to 2 m thick. The blocky 
from its outlet to the Cambridge Gulf (Fig. 1). The flow quasi-square nature of the boulders results from the 
derived from the upper catchment of 12,000 km2 is vertical jointing of the local bedrock.
funnelled through a narrow gorge, 500 m wide and  A hydrological and channel morphological study of the 
~1.5 km long, which has been formed by long-term site by Wende [2] suggested that only extreme floods 
incision of the Durack River into resistant sandstone. with exceptionally high-flow velocities of up to 10 m/
Along the flanks of the gorge and slightly above the sec can dislodge and move these massive boulders. 
modern river channel, numerous hydraulically-plucked Such climatic events have not been documented in the 
rock slabs have been stacked into discontinuous, palaeoclimate and environmental archives since the 
semi-circular patterns of imbricated piles that resemble mid-Holocene (past 5,000 years), and we speculate  
toppled rows of dominoes (Fig. 2a-d). Based on surface that the overturning events may result from major 
erosional features (e.g., weathering pits, smoothness, changes in global climate associated with the waxing 
rock vanish coating) and freshness of joint breaks and and waning of past ice ages. But, how can we ‘date’ 
fracturing, some of these boulders have clearly been when a boulder flipped?
overturned. The layered bedding matrix of sandstone 
52 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Ancient mega floods in the monsoon tropics of Australia coincide with climatic instability
Figure 2
(a) View looking upstream of a portion of the field of massive imbricated boulders at Jack’s Waterhole. White arrow represents flow direction. (b) Prof 
Gerald Nanson next to boulder JW-1 (surface area 5.5 x 5 m, thickness ~70 cm, weight ~20 t), which was sampled on upper and lower surfaces for 
10Be that gave a model overturning age of 11,400 years. (c) David Fink next to imbricated boulder clusters. The boulder at the extreme left (JW-2, 
surface area 3.5 x 3.5 m, thickness ~70 cm, weight ~20 t) was sampled for 10Be that gave an overturning age of 140,000 years. (d) Toshi Fujioka (left) 
and Gerald Nanson (right) on boulder JW-5 (surface area 7 x 3 m, thickness ~1 m, weight ~50 t). The boulder is among the largest we sampled that 
gave the oldest overturning age of 235,000 years.   
Model concept We sampled both the upper (exposed) and lower 
(hidden) surface of six boulders deemed to have been 
Cosmogenic 10Be is produced via a spallation nuclear overturned by field observation. If our identification is 
reaction of secondary cosmic-ray particles (neutrons correct, the previously buried surface is now exposed 
and muons) on oxygen atoms within the mineral quartz and the previously exposed surface is now buried after 
(SiO2 is the most abundant mineral on Earth) in rocks. the event (Fig. 3), making the 
10Be ratio of the two 
The longer the surface is bombarded the more 10Be surfaces deviate from the predicted value. Immediately 
accumulates. Given that the production rate of 10Be after the event, the 10Be concentration of the now hidden 
(atoms per gram of quartz per year) is known and the surface (i.e., the previously exposed surface) must 
extremely low concentration of resultant 10Be in rocks exceed that at the exposed surface (i.e., the previously 
can be measured by accelerator mass spectrometry, buried surface) (Fig. 3b). This inverse relationship 
we can calculate the exposure ages of rock surfaces. will, with time, gradually tend to revert to the normal 
In addition, by knowing how the cosmic-ray intensity relationship (i.e., as if the boulder had never overturned) 
attenuates with depth in the rock, we can predict a 10Be as the current upper surface continues to receive a 
concentration ‘depth profile’ by simply measuring 10Be in higher cosmic-ray dose (Fig. 3c). Thus, the longer the 
the top few centimetres of rock surfaces. However, when elapsed time since overturning, the more difficult it is 
a boulder is overturned, the predictable depth profile no to uniquely determine whether the boulder has been 
longer applies, and the deviation of the predicted value overturned or not. Our modelling shows that we are  
from the measured one can be used to estimate the time able to determine overturning events for the time  
when it overturned. range between 1,000 to 300,000 years for boulders  
of 1 m thickness. 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 53
Environment and  
climate change
Ancient mega floods in the monsoon tropics of Australia coincide with climatic instability
Figure 3
Schematic diagrams of an interpretive boulder-overturning model (left) and associated cosmogenic-10Be vertical depth 
profiles through the boulder (right). (a) Just prior to the event (designated as t = 0): long-term continual irradiation of 
the intact boulder has resulted in an exponentially decreasing (“normal”) 10Be concentration profile, which is controlled 
by the cosmic-ray attenuation rate and boulder thickness, h. (b) At the flood event (t = 0): the upstream face of the rock 
slab is plucked from its bedrock contact, detached, rotated about a pivot point at its downstream face and overturned, 
exposing a previously-buried surface (surface A). The 10Be profile immediately after overturning (t ~ 0) will be an inverted 
curve (“inverse” profile) similar to that given in (a). (c) As the cosmic-ray irradiation time continues, the 10Be profile tends 
progressively to resemble the “normal” profile (dashed curves). During this time period, prior to re-establishing a “normal” 
depth profile, the overturning age, t, can be calculated by comparing the ratio of 10Be on the lower to upper surface with that 
the predicted ratio based on the upper-surface 10Be concentration with boulder thickness. The size of black and white dots 
denotes the relative difference in the 10Be concentration between the surface A and B.   
Determining the age of floods These ages largely coincide with the last three major 
transitions of global climate from glacial to interglacial 
Four out of six boulders we sampled show an inverse periods, termed glacial terminations, i.e., T-I (18,000–
relationship in 10Be concentrations between their upper 11,000), -II (136,000–124,000) and -III (252,000–
and lower surfaces, indicating that they have been 238,000 years ago) [4] (Fig. 4). These transitions are 
overturned. Within our measurement uncertainty, we characterised by a rapid increase in global temperature 
could not unequivocally determine if the remaining two (~2°C per 1,000 years) associated with sea-level 
boulders were overturned. Our model gave overturning rise in parallel to a reorganisation of atmospheric 
ages of 6,300, 11,400, 140,000 and 235,000 years with and ocean circulations. We believe that the relative 
~15% uncertainty for the four boulders [3]. climatic instability at glacial terminations led to temporal 
enhancement of tropical cyclone and storm activities, 
consequently generating devastating floods along 
northern Australia. 
54 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Ancient mega floods in the monsoon tropics of Australia coincide with climatic instability
Figure 4
The model overturning ages of the mega-flood-generated boulders at Jack’s Waterhole, the Kimberley, overlayed on major climate records over the 
past 450,000 years (after [4]). Benthic d18O stack (red curve, representing global deepwater temperature and ice volume); deuterium excess (dD) from 
the EPICA Dome C ice core, Antarctica (blue curve, representing Antarctic temperature). T-I to T-V (yellow-blue bands) denote glacial terminations. Our 
model overturning ages (yellow-dots; measurements taken on ANSTO’s ANTARES accelerator) coincide with the three recent terminations which involve 
major oceanic and atmospheric reorganisation. 
The youngest model age (6,300 years) corresponds References
to a period of relative warmer and wetter conditions [1]   Knutson, T.R. et al. (2010). Tropical cyclones and climate change. Nature 
associated with final sea-level adjustment to Antarctic- Geoscience, 3, 157-163.
ice melt since the last glacial maximum (~20,000 years [2]   Wende, R. (1999). Boulder bedforms in jointed-bedrock channels. In: Miller, A.J. 
ago). This is supported by sediment records near Darwin and Gupta, A., eds., Varieties of fluvial form, John Wiley and Sons Ltd, 189-216. 
indicating intense floods during early to mid-Holocene [3]   Fujioka et al., in prep. Modelling of massive boulder overturning by palaeo-flood 
events in the tropics Australia, using in situ cosmogenic 10Be. Quaternary 
with much higher magnitude than those during the last Geochronology.
4,000 years [5]. [4]   Wolff et al. (2009). Glacial terminations as southern warmings without northern 
In summary, we conclude that the palaeo-hydrological control. Nature Geoscience, 2, 206-209.
regime in northern Australia over the past 250,000 years [5]   Nott and Price (1999). Waterfalls, floods and climate change: evidence from 
has responded to the major global climate changes tropical Australia. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 171, 267-276.
during periods of glacial terminations, as evidenced 
in this study by massive boulder overturing during 
increased river flow. This result has implications for 
assessing the effect of future global warming on the 
frequency and magnitude of cyclones and storms in the 
monsoon tropics of Australia.  
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 55
Environment and  
climate change
Novel materials
56 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Novel materials
The novel material research conducted at ANSTO is aimed at developing and 
characterising new materials to tackle industry problems and create innovative 
and improved products in industries as diverse as health care, electronics  
and construction.
Research into novel materials includes plastics, metals and ceramics–
essentially materials that are designed to exhibit new properties and  
improve performance.
ANSTO’s recent novel material studies are helping improve the performance of 
the next generation of electronic devices such as television and mobile phone 
screens; finding the best way to store hydrogen, which could be the answer 
to producing cleaner, greener energy; and aiding the design of the nuclear 
materials of the future by studying how materials respond to extreme levels  
of radiation.
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 57
Novel materials
Tamim Darwish is setting up a 
hydrothermal deuteration reaction in 
a Parr high pressure reactor.
58 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Studying the morphology and stability of 
organic light-emitting diode devices
Tamim A. Darwish1 Michael James1, Peter J. Holden1, Arthur R. G. Smith,2 Ian R. Gentle2, Paul L. Burn2.
1ANSTO, 2University of Queensland
Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are extensively used in devices such as television and mobile 
phone screens, but their life-time depends significantly on the stability of the chemical layers that 
form these devices. Structural changes at the interfaces between these layers, which can occur 
during production or when the device heats up, dramatically affect how electrical charge travels 
through the device leading to changes in its performance.
ANSTO’s research used neutron reflectometry and specifically synthesised deuterated molecules 
that are typically used in OLEDs, to study the combining of layers and the structural changes that 
take place on the nanoscale, or sub-microscopic level, to improve the performance of the next 
generation of these devices.
What is an OLED? displays and lighting has proved challenging. The 
morphological stability of the layers in the device can 
Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are generally affect both device efficiency and lifetime. Heat generated 
made of thin layers of organic or organometallic (macro) during operation is one of the critical factors which can 
molecules sandwiched between two electrodes (Fig.1). contribute to the instability of the layers at the molecular 
The devices emit light when an electric current flows interfaces. This is particularly important for OLEDs 
through them. OLEDs are under intense investigation based on small molecule phosphorescent iridium(III) 
for use in the next generation of display and lighting complexes such as fac-tris(2-phenylpyridyl)iridium(III) 
technologies. These devices are used already in [Ir(ppy)3] due to the different thermal properties of the 
television screens, computer monitors and small materials in the adjacent layers, and also due to the fact 
portable system screens such as mobile phones and that the complex is blended into a host material [e.g., 
personal digital assistants. 4,4-bis(N-carbazolyl)biphenyl = ‘CBP’]. In blends, it  
is difficult to elucidate whether the guest is evenly 
How does an OLED work? distributed throughout the film or whether there  are concentration variations in parts of the film. 
Investigations of functioning devices with buried 
The simplest OLED has the emissive layer sandwiched interfaces present numerous difficulties using 
between two electrodes (anode and cathode), one of conventional surface-science techniques and so  
which must be transparent to let the light escape. The neutron reflectometry along with deuteration of specific 
anode injects holes into the device while the cathode molecular layers has become the key method for the 
injects electrons. When an appropriate voltage (typically study of the morphology, diffusion and interfacial 
a few volts) is applied to the cell the injected positive behaviour in organic thin-film semiconducting devices. 
and negative charges recombine in the emissive layer These phenomena and the performance of organic 
to produce light (electroluminescence). However, for optoelectronic devices are the subject of ongoing 
the devices to work well there needs to be balanced investigations by Paul Burn, Ian Gentle and their 
injection and charge transport of holes and electrons and co-workers at the University of Queensland. They have 
to do this, additional charge transport layers are often developed a combined in situ neutron reflectometry/
introduced between the electrodes and the emissive photoluminescence measurement that allows the 
layer. Fig. 2 shows a typical device that contains an simultaneous collection of the neutron reflectivity data 
‘electron transport layer’ and a ‘hole transport layer’ in and emission spectra from functioning OLEDs [1]. An 
addition to the light-emitting layer. additional feature of the experiment is that the sample 
can be heated in situ thus enabling the direct 
Scope of study determination of the effect of annealing on the physical 
and photophysical properties.
While efficiencies of OLEDs have risen quickly the task 
of preparing such devices with lifetimes suitable for 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 59
Novel materials
Studying the morphology and stability of organic light-emitting diode devices
Figure 1 Figure 2
A flexible OLED device (photo courtesy of 
Andrew Liszewski). Schematic of an OLED device.
Why use neutrons and deuteration? interdiffusion between the different molecular layers 
under thermal stress [1-3].
Neutron reflectometry is an excellent method for A combination of spectroscopic techniques such 
investigating the internal structure of thin (typically  as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass 
< 100 nm) films. In blended films, where there may be spectroscopy (MS) were used to calculate the total 
out-of-plane phase separation of the components within deuterium content in the molecules and the relative 
the blend, careful deuteration enables differentiation of occurrence of hydrogen and deuterium atoms at specific 
components and allows any separation to be observed. sites within the molecule. NMR is a particularly useful 
Deuteration is the process where all or part of the analytical tool as experiments can be designed that 
hydrogen (1H) content of a molecule is replaced by the discriminate between resonances of the various types of 
stable (non-radioactive) isotope deuterium (2H = D). carbon molecules present: fully deuterated groups (CD, 
Materials containing hydrogen (1H) are said to be CD2, CD3), partially deuterated groups (CHD, CHD2, 
protonated whilst those containing deuterium (2H = D) CH2D), and non-deuterated groups (C, CH, CH2, CH3), 
are said to be deuterated. The properties of the thus allowing the full characterisation of the deuterated 
hydrogen and deuterium nuclei mean they scatter molecules, and hence the calculation of the scattering-
neutrons quite differently. This difference manifests as  length density of the different materials in the OLED 
a variation in a quantity called the neutron scattering- layers for the neutron experiments [3].
length density. Neutron-beam studies exploit this 
difference in scattering-length density to probe the 
structures of individual components in multicomponent Hydrothermal deuterium labelling 
systems. In multi-layer films, a combination of 
deuterated and protonated layers can give excellent Deuteration of the molecules for this work was achieved 
contrast in a neutron reflectometry experiment. either by H/D exchange reactions with deuterium oxide 
(D2O) catalysed by Pt/C and Pd/C under hydrothermal 
conditions, or by synthesis from deuterated precursors 
Deuteration of the OLED components produced by the same method. Hydrothermal 
deuteration involves heating the protonated version 
The National Deuteration Facility at ANSTO has the of the molecule in D2O, which acts as the solvent and 
capability and expertise to deuterate a variety of (macro) deuterium source, in the presence of metal catalysts 
molecules: this includes biodeuteration of proteins and under high temperatures and pressures using a Parr 
polymers, as well as chemical deuteration including the reactor (see image p.58). These reactors are designed 
synthesis and deuteration of a range of compounds to heat aqueous solutions to temperatures approaching 
such as surfactants, lipids, fatty acids, sugars and other water’s supercritical temperature under pressure. This 
small organic molecules. induces H/D exchange between sites on the protonated 
Conjugated aromatic heterocycles such as molecule to produce a deuterated version which is then 
bathocuproine (BCP) and tris(4-carbazoyl-9-ylphenyl) isolated, purified and characterised.
amine (TCTA) (Fig. 3) are widely used in OLEDs as 
electron and hole transport materials respectively. Inter-diffusion and phase separation in 
Deuteration of these aromatic and heterocyclic OLEDs
molecules enables the characterisation of the film 
structure typically found in multilayer OLEDs, due to Thin films of the desired protonated and deuterated 
a substantial increase in neutron scattering-length compounds were prepared by thermal evaporation 
density of the deuterated material compared to their under high vacuum onto silicon wafers at the University 
equivalent protonated forms. In addition, we can probe 
60 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Figure 3
Deuterated molecules used in this study.  
of Queensland for neutron reflectivity measurements on Figure 4 
the Platypus time-of-flight neutron reflectometer at the 
OPAL 20 MW research reactor at ANSTO [4]. Analysis of 
neutron reflectivity data from a BCP-d20 / (Ir(ppy)3:CBP) / 
TCTA-d24 trilayer film on silicon (Si) measured at room 
temperature gave thicknesses of 15 nm, 35 nm and  
27 nm respectively with excellent contrast between the 
BCP-d20 and TCTA-d24 layers (SLD~5x10
-6 Å-2) and the 
(Ir(ppy) :CBP) layer (SLD~2.5x10-6 Å-23 ).  The three-layer 
structure was stable at temperatures up to 90°C. At 
100°C the Ir(ppy)3:CBP and BCP-d20 layers were found 
to interdiffuse, while the (TCTA-d24) / Ir(ppy)3:CBP 
interface remained stable (Fig. 4). Only by using 
deuterated BCP-d20 and TCTA-d24 could we study this 
behaviour as the protonated forms of BCP and TCTA  
in these thin-film devices would not have provided 
adequate scattering contrast between the CBP emissive 
layer, the BCP and the TCTA layer.
Neutron scattering-length density profile from an OLED trilayer 
In addition, our study found that as prepared blended from neutron reflectivity data showing interdiffusion of BCP-d20 and 
films of Ir(ppy)3 in CBP were uniformly mixed. However Ir(ppy)3:CBP layers at 100°C.
the stability of the films with respect to phase separation 
was strongly dependent on the weight ratio of the References 
Ir(ppy)3 in CBP. When films comprised of 6 wt% Ir(ppy)3 [1]   Smith, A. R. G., Ruggles, J. L., Cavaye, H., Shaw, P., Darwish, T. A., James, M., 
in CBP (typically used in OLEDs) were heated to a Gentle, I. R., Burn, P. L., Morphology and Stability of Fac-tris(2-phenylpyridyl)
moderate temperature (at 80°C) they were found to iridium(III) Blended Films: a Neutron Reflectometry Study, Advanced Functional 
phase separate. In contrast, simply increasing the Materials, 21(12), 2225-2231 (2011).
weight percent to 12wt% caused the film to become [2]   Smith, A. R. G., Lee, K. H., Nelson, A., James, M., Burn, P. L., and Gentle, I. R., 
Diffusion – the Hidden Menace in Organic Optoelectronic Devices, Advanced 
stable such that on heating no significant separation Materials, 24(6), 822-826 (2012). 
occurred. [3]   Darwish, T. A., Smith, A. R. G., Gentle, I. R., Burn, P. L., Luks, E., Moraes, G., 
These results have important implications for materials Gillon, M., Holden, P. J., and James, M, Deuteration of conjugated aromatic 
and device design, not only for OLEDs but also for heterocycles for morphological studies of organic light emitting devices, Tetrahedron Letters, 53, 931–935 (2012). 
stacked organic photovoltaic devices. It is important 
[4]   James, M, Nelson, A, Holt, SA, Saerbeck, T, Hamilton, WA and Klose, F, The 
to identify the temperature at which these devices can multipurpose time-of-flight neutron reflectometer “Platypus” at Australia’s OPAL 
work reproducibly and most efficiently, as well as the reactor, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A 632(1), 112-123 (2011).
environment in which these devices are being used  
or stored.
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 61
Novel materials
Elvis Shoko standing in front of 
ANSTO’s Linux cluster server 
essential for detailed computational 
research.
62 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
When the guest rattles the host
Elvis Shoko, Vanessa K. Peterson, Gordon J. Kearley
ANSTO
Environmental sustainability is driving energy production and use towards cleaner and greener 
technologies such as using hydrogen as a fuel. However, this raises the problem of how best to safely 
store hydrogen. 
This study investigated trapping hydrogen molecules (H2) in ice. This forms a clathrate hydrogen 
hydrate, which is essentially an ice cage which can hold hydrogen. Although this research focuses on 
ice, there are other options for cage materials and we need to understand how the hydrogen interacts 
with the container carrying it. This is best done by analysing how the hydrogen molecules move 
around in the cage. The research also tackled the question of whether the cage’s own thermal motion 
is also important. 
Although complex, these questions must be understood because they relate directly to the 
performance and safety of the hydrogen storage material. This research used a more rigorous 
approach than has been commonly used previously, taking into account the cage’s flexibility rather 
than assuming that the cage is rigid. This has highlighted the shortcomings of previous experiments. 
It is crucial to correctly calculate the interaction between the hydrogen and the cage so that we can 
work towards ice composite materials that can safely store more hydrogen.
Hydrogen in a clathrate hydrate cage:  but to be of practical use, these should meet the US 
A hydrogen-storage system Department of Energy (DOE) targets [3] for both storage 
capacity and delivery of the hydrogen, and should 
Environmental sustainability is driving energy production be be cheap, non-toxic, compact, and light, for viable 
and use towards cleaner and greener technologies. This commercialisation.
has brought to the forefront of research the prospect of The structure of type II pure hydrogen clathrates,  
a hydrogen economy, in which the hydrogen molecule is (Fig. 1), form and remain stable only at 200 MPa and 
the primary energy carrier with its conversion to power 273 K [4]. This pressure is high, but can be reduced by 
through fuel-cell technologies. incorporating other molecules in the nanocages, e.g. 
An important challenge in moving to a hydrogen tetrahydrofuran [4]. However, adding other molecules 
economy for the automotive industry is the onboard into the clathrate means that there is less room for the 
storage of hydrogen through a technology which meets hydrogen and the conflicting requirements of structural 
both power (as capacity) and delivery time (fuelling) stability and storage capacity are difficult to reconcile. 
requirements of the vehicle. The small hydrogen- For a pure hydrogen hydrate, the theoretical maximum 
molecule is energy-intensive to compress, and the storage capacity is close to the 5.5 w/w% DOE storage 
limitations of high pressure storage tanks have been requirement for 2015 [3], assuming 2 and 4 hydrogen 
circumvented by storage of hydrogen within another molecules in the small and large cages respectively (see 
material. Candidate materials include metal hydrides, Fig. 1) [5]. The prospect of reaching this maximum relies 
chemical hydrides, and porous materials such as on an understanding of the nature of the interactions 
coordination frameworks and hydrogen clathrates [2], between a guest molecule and the cage containing it.
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 63
Novel materials
When the guest rattles the host
Figure 1
a. b.
Schematic of structure II hydrogen hydrate cages as (a) the unit cell, and (b) part of the unit cell highlighting small and large cages. There are 16 small 
and 8 large cages in a unit cell. The small dark blue circles are H atoms and the large light blue are O atoms. The two cage types share a pentagonal 
face which is highlighted in yellow. Guest hydrogen molecules are not shown for clarity.
There is a sweet spot in the interaction between A useful quantitative measure of the interaction between 
the hydrogen guest and the cage that maximises the hydrogen guest and the cage is the potential of 
storage capacity and allows the gas to be released for mean force (PMF) which is calculated from the MD 
subsequent use. When the hydrogen molecule is loosely atomic trajectories as the negative logarithm of the 
held, it undergoes a fascinating phenomenon known population density of the hydrogen molecule within the 
as quantum translation/rotation that has been widely cage. In the following sections we look in detail at the 
studied theoretically [6]. However, these studies assume atomic and molecular motions obtained from the MD 
that the cage is rigid in order to simplify the problem simulations to extract what interactions exist and their 
computationally, since including the movements of the origins.
cage complicate these calculations [7]. We resolve 
these difficulties by taking an axiomatic approach which Where is the guest?
enables us to model this quantum system classically, at 
15 K, using ab initio molecular dynamics (MD) in VASP Fig. 2 shows the first and perhaps most convincing 
[8]. Quantum systems are more sensitive to changes in result from the MD simulations for a hydrogen molecule 
the hydrogen-cage interaction than classical systems. in a fixed and flexible cage. There are clear differences: 
By treating the system classically (which is easy) and Firstly, the PMF of the hydrogen in the flexible cage 
comparing results from a flexible-cage calculation with shows that the hydrogen covers a larger spatial range 
that for a fixed-cage calculation, we can assess any compared to that of the hydrogen in the fixed cage. 
differences and judge if ignoring cage flexibility in the Secondly, whereas the fixed cage PMF is approximately 
real quantum system will cause a serious error. isotropic, the flexible cage PMF has a more complex 
There are four types of motion that are of importance structure, which shows that there are important 
here. The hydrogen may rotate around its centre (twist) interactions in the guest-host dynamics.
and translate (rattle) in the cage. The cage is more This result demonstrates that the fixed cage 
restricted in its motion and we consider libration, which computational approach fails to capture some essential 
is restricted rotation (or twisting) of the two H-atoms physics of the guest-host interactions and is a poor 
about an axis through the O-atoms. We also consider starting point for understanding the technologically 
a translation (more like shaking) of the water molecule important storage-capacity issues. 
about its average position in the cage. 
64 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Figure 2
Cross-sections through the 3D potential of mean force (PMF) for the H2 guest in the (a) fixed cage and (b) the flexible cage, where the contours show 
greater depth in energy from red to blue.
This result demonstrates that the fixed cage computational approach fails to capture some essential physics of the guest-host interactions and is a 
poor starting point for understanding the technologically important storage-capacity issues. 
Figure 3
Frequency spectra of the (a) rotational/librational and (b) translational motions of the H2 and the H2O cage molecules. 
It is important to understand the mode coupling because this affects the total energy (stability) of the system via the entropy; a key factor in the storage 
capacity and temperature range in which the material is useful. 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 65
Novel materials
When the guest rattles the host
Figure 4
Rotational spectra of H2 in the fixed, flexible deuterated and flexible H2O cages. The fixed and deuterated cages exhibit similar spectral features in the 
region around 10 meV.
Does the guest rattle the host? How does the guest behave in a heavy host?
Dynamical coupling between the guest and the Substitution of the hydrogen atoms of the cage with 
cage requires the motions for the two to have similar deuterium is routine in inelastic neutron scattering 
frequencies and to examine this, we extracted the experiments because it effectively removes the signal 
frequencies of selected dynamical modes of the from the ice. This makes it easier to study the 
hydrogen and the flexible cage H2O molecules from the movements of the hydrogen molecule, but implicitly 
MD trajectories. The results in Fig. 3 show that both makes the assumption that movements of the hydrogen 
the librational and translational modes of the cage H2O guest and the cage are independent. We investigate  
overlap considerably with the rotational and translational the effect of this cage deuteration on the rotational  
modes of the hydrogen, respectively, pointing to dynamics of the hydrogen (Fig. 4). Compared to the 
significant coupling. A striking feature of Fig. 3 is the normal H2O cage, the deuterated cage gives rise to a 
peak at approximately 10 meV which corresponds rather different (classical) rotational spectrum for the 
closely to the well-known peak at 9.86 meV observed hydrogen because the coupling to the cage has 
experimentally using inelastic neutron scattering. This changed. It is particularly important to note that the 
peak is normally attributed to the translational motion of normal H2O and deuterated-cage spectra differ in the 
the hydrogen (“rattling”) but the current work suggests region around 10meV. Our results suggest that 
that this mode contains a rotational contribution, at least deuteration of the cage shifts the cage dynamics to  
from the H2O cage. be closer to that observed for the fixed cage system, 
giving a “false agreement” with a calculated spectrum  
in which the cage is fixed and that for the experimentally 
measured deuterated cage. This is an exciting result  
that we intend to verify experimentally.
66 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Conclusion
Quantum systems are delicate and it is risky to assume 
that substituting a normal ice cage by a heavy-water ice 
cage will not affect the motions of the guest in the cage. 
Clearly, it does. This is an important warning because it 
is common (and convenient) practice to use deuterium 
substitution to remove the incoherent signal from 
hydrogen that would otherwise clutter the signal from the 
H-atoms of interest. Simulation (as we use) is probably 
the simplest method of guarding against this mistake.
Previous studies have used analytical expressions for 
the potential-energy surface for the hydrogen molecule 
that give very accurate results, but for a fixed-cage 
model that we have shown to be inadequate. It would 
be difficult to use these analytical methods for a model 
in which the cage is flexible, but we have shown that 
the more tractable potential of mean force (PMF) for the 
hydrogen molecule (which is very close to the potential-
energy surface) is very different in the cases of flexible 
and rigid cages. This arises because the frequencies 
of the low-energy motions of the cages almost coincide 
with the period of the hydrogen motions, which could 
ultimately be used as a method for tuning hydrogen-
storage capacity. 
References
[1]   Peterson, V. K., Shoko, E., and Kearley, G. J., The Effect of Host Relaxation 
and Dynamics on Guest Molecule Dynamics in H2/tetrahydrofuran-hydrate, 
Faraday Discuss., 151, 37-46 (2011).
[2]   David, W. I. F., Effective Hydrogen Storage: A Strategic Chemistry Challenge, 
Faraday Discuss., 151, 399-414 (2011).
[3]   DOE. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/storage/pdfs/targets_
onboard_hydro_storage_explanation.pdf, the targets for a future hydrogen 
economy as defined by the Department of Energy.
[4]   Struzhkin, V. V., Militzer, B., Mao, W. L., Mao, H-K., and Hemley, R. J., 
Hydrogen Storage in Molecular Clathrates, Chem. Rev. 107, 4133-4151 (2007).
[5]   Schuth, F., Hydrogen and Hydrates, Nature, 434, 712-713 (2005).
[6]   Xu, M., and Bacic, Z., Inelastic Neutron Scattering Spectra of a Hydrogen 
Molecule in a Nanocavity: Methodology for Quantum Calculations Incorporating 
the Coupled Five-Dimensional Translation-Rotation Eigenstates, Phys. Rev. B, 
84, 195445 (2011).
[7]   Patchkovskii, S., and Tse, J. S., Thermodynamic Stability of Hydrogen 
Clathrates, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 100 (25), 14645-14650 (2003).
[8]   Kresse, G., and Furthmuller, J., Efficient Iterative Schemes for ab initio Total-
energy Calculations Using a Plane-wave Basis Set, Phys. Rev. B54, 11169-
11186 (1996); Bloechl, P. E., The Projector Augmented-wave Method, Phys. 
Rev. B, 50, 17953-17979 (1994); Kresse, G., and Joubert, J., From Ultrasoft 
Pseudopotentials to the Projector Augmented-wave Method, Phys. Rev. B, 59, 
1758-1775 (1999). 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 67
Novel materials
Greg Lumpkin’s work is helping 
develop tomorrow’s materials for 
future nuclear applications.
68 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Understanding radiation damage at the atomic scale
Marc Robinson2, Nigel Marks2, Karl Whittle1, Greg Lumpkin1
1ANSTO, 2Curtin University
Materials for future nuclear applications all share one important property: the ability to maintain 
functionality during exposure to extreme levels of irradiation. Developing such materials requires an 
in-depth understanding of the atomic processes that attribute to the build-up of radiation damage.
ANSTO’s study used atomistic scale simulations to discover the mechanisms of initial defect 
formation. Allowing a first-hand look at which factors contribute to a material’s radiation tolerance or 
susceptibility will help us understand and design prospective nuclear materials.
The virtual microscope Figure 1
To aid the understanding of a macroscopic process, 
it is important to isolate and study the contributing 
microscopic factors. Applying this philosophy to 
understanding how a material responds to radiation, 
inevitably leads us to the investigation of the 
fundamental atomic-level phenomena. However, the 
dynamics of radiation damage cannot be observed 
directly even using the best experimental techniques: 
the processes are simply too small and too fast. This is 
where ‘virtual’ experiments can take over. 
Atomistic computer simulations are becoming 
increasingly popular, aided by advances in High 
Performance Computing (HPC). The ability to model the 
motions of millions of atoms over the nanosecond time-
scale has resulted in simulation becoming a powerful 
tool to complement experiment. 
A snapshot of an MD simulation in rutile. By tracking the trajectories 
The investigation of radiation damage is well suited to of the atoms, the mechanisms of defect production and 
computer simulation, in particular molecular dynamics recombination are revealed. In this simulation, an oxygen 
(MD). In MD, each atom in the system is treated split-interstitial is formed (yellow) by a succession of knock-on 
events referred to as a replacement chain (blue). When these 
individually, allowing us to follow the trajectories of chains form loops (green), no defects are produced.
energetic atoms and reveal the mechanisms of damage 
accumulation (see Fig. 1).
In our research, we develop new techniques based on damage and the answer is known as the threshold 
MD computer simulation. We study low-energy radiation displacement energy or Ed. 
events with the goal to understand which factors A common use of Ed is in SRIM (The Stopping and 
contribute to changes in initial defect formation. Range of Ions in Matter)[1] a popular computer 
Combining this methodology with thousands of simulation program. SRIM is used extensively by the 
processors from HPC facilities has allowed us to semiconductor industry and ion-implantation community 
gain a very high level of statistics enabling precise to calculate ion-implantation depths, defect production 
calculation of important quantities such as the threshold and sputtering yield. However, the accuracy of models 
displacement energy. such as SRIM hinge on ascertaining an accurate value 
of Ed.
The threshold displacement energy To precisely determine Ed requires a methodology 
that can capture the onset of defect creation. This 
What is the kinetic energy required to permanently methodology would be required to sample numerous 
displace an atom in a particular system? This question variables such as impact energy and direction. Due 
forms the basis for numerous models of radiation to the probabilistic nature of defect production at low 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 69
Novel materials
Understanding radiation damage at the atomic scale
Figure 2
The generation of directions of initial impact from solutions to ‘The Thomson Problem’. Firstly the points are randomly distributed on the surface of the 
sphere. After assigning a repulsive potential to each point, the configuration is minimized to produce a uniform distribution. The sphere is then centred 
on an atom (as shown for a Ti atom in the rutile lattice) so that each point creates a vector of initial impact.
energies, a very high level of statistics is required to Taking a look at TiO2
enable an accurate extrapolation of Ed [2,3]. 
The methodology we have developed not only meets The three common polymorphs of TiO2: rutile, brookite 
the above criterion but does so in a generalised and and anatase, provide ideal candidates to test our new 
transferable manner. This allows us to seamlessly methodology, allowing us to study the effect of crystal 
change the material under investigation and generate structure on initial defect formation. Furthermore, rutile 
readily comparable results. TiO2 is a constituent phase in Synroc, the wasteform 
developed by ANSTO for the immobilisation of 
radioactive waste. Experiments by ANSTO researchers 
New solutions to an old problem have shown surprising differences between the 
polymorphs, with rutile being highly radiation tolerant, 
The main feature of our methodology that enables while anatase was easily amorphised [5]. This important 
transferability is the automated generation of directions result provides a solid foundation for comparison to our 
of initial impact. This allows any crystal type to be the simulations.
subject of investigation, regardless of the complexity 
of the structure. To achieve this, inspiration was drawn Our study into the TiO2 polymorphs involved over 
from a problem of historical significance, namely “The a quarter of a million MD simulations, with Fig. 3 
Thomson Problem”. demonstrating the importance of good statistical 
sampling. Displacement events along a single direction 
In 1904, J.J. Thomson outlined the problem of uniformly (Fig. 3a) suffer large uncertainties due to the chaotic 
distributing points on the surface of a sphere whilst nature of the collision process. However, the problem is 
attempting to determine the arrangement of point eliminated (see Fig. 3b) when the directions are sampled 
charges in the atom [4]. Since then the problem has using solutions to the Thomson Problem. 
become a significant area of research, applicable to a 
multitude of real-world problems from the structure of Another benefit from achieving a high level of statistics 
fullerenes to the morphology of viruses. is the capability to carry out detailed analysis. A prime 
example of this is shown in Fig. 4, which shows a 
Importantly, solutions to the Thomson Problem can be comprehensive categorisation of the residual defect 
employed as a method of sampling directions of initial clusters created from simulations in rutile. The calculated 
impact. This is shown in Fig. 2, where 100 points are defect proportions give quantitative support to an 
uniformly distributed on the surface of a sphere and then observation common to all polymorphs, that significantly 
superimposed on top of an atom providing vectors of more isolated oxygen point defects are created than 
initial velocity. titanium point defects. This relates to the ease at which 
displacements occur on the oxygen sublattice resulting 
in long-range replacement chains.
70 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Figure 3
(a) (b)
Defect formation probability as a function of energy of the impacted atom here referred to as the PKA (primary knock-on atom). (a) Sampling a single 
impact direction. (b) Sampling 100 directions uniformly distributed on the surface of a sphere.
Figure 4
Residual defect clusters in rutile. Note the large proportion of isolated oxygen vacancies and interstitials, a result of long chains of atomic replacements 
on the oxygen sublattice.
Future directions References
[1]   J. F. Ziegler, M. D. Ziegler, and J. P. Biersack, Nuclear Instruments and 
The methodology we have developed is applicable to Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms 268, 1818-1823 (2010).
any crystal structure, enabling a quantitative approach to 
[2]   K. Nordlund, J. Wallenius, and L. Malerba, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in 
investigating radiation damage. In future studies, we will Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms 246, 
employ this approach to study complex materials such 322-332 (2006).
as pyrochlores to aid the understanding and design of [3]   L Malerba, JM Perlado, A. Sánchez-Rubio, I. Pastor, L. Colombo, and T. Diaz 
prospective nuclear materials. de la Rubia, Journal of Nuclear Materials 283, 794–798 (2000).
The present work also forms the foundation for further [4]   J. J. Thomson, Philosophical Magazine Series 6 7, 237-265 (1904).
studies into the dynamics of defect recombination [5]   G. R. Lumpkin, K. L. Smith, M. G. Blackford, B. S. Thomas, K. R. Whittle, N. A. 
over longer time scales. Working in conjunction with Marks, and J. Z. Zaluzec, Physical Review B 77, 1-9 (2008).
Los Alamos National Laboratory, we aim to build 
the complete picture of the atomic-level response to 
radiation damage.
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 71
Novel materials
1μm Scanning electron micrograph of a 
ceramic oxide waste form taken on 
ANSTO’s Zeiss Ultra Plus SEM.  
Photo courtesy of Joel Davis.
72 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Advanced nuclear waste forms
Daniel Gregg, Yingjie Zhang, Zhaoming Zhang, Inna Karatchevtseva, Linggen Kong, Mark Blackford, Gerry Triani, 
Karl Whittle, Gregory Lumpkin, Eric Vance.
ANSTO
Since the 1980s, ANSTO has been a world leader in nuclear waste form research and is now 
extending its waste form activities into developing nuclear materials for the next generation of reactor 
technologies. This includes developing materials for advanced nuclear waste forms, and inert-matrix 
targets for actinide burning. 
Such materials have the potential to address the worldwide growing stockpiles of plutonium and 
minor actinides, and to provide long-term nuclear waste management solutions. A key scientific focus 
is to acquire fundamental knowledge on the crystal chemistry of actinides within suitable materials 
and to provide an understanding of how the materials behave during the extreme conditions of the 
advanced fuel cycle. 
This research covers current strategies to fabricate and characterise these systems as well as future 
research directions, and demonstrates the viability of the studied material as a waste form and host 
for actinides.
Nuclear energy with waste minimisation plutonium-239 (half-life of 24,000 years) is transmuted 
to various fission products, the vast majority of which 
To prepare for future generation nuclear systems (so- have significantly shorter half-lives. This concept not 
called Gen IV reactors) and a ‘closed fuel cycle’, it is only utilses resources (plutonium is an essential energy 
necessary to provide long-term waste management resource) but also provides enhanced resistance to 
solutions and address the growing stockpile of plutonium proliferation. Importantly, this approach would potentially 
and minor actinides (neptunium, americium and curium) reduce average high-level nuclear waste lifetimes from 
contained in spent nuclear fuel. Most of the longer term tens of millennia to a few centuries. Candidate materials 
radioactive hazard from irradiated nuclear fuel originates to encapsulate the actinides for transmutation will be 
from these four chemical elements (the actinides, see required to fulfil a range of criteria including radiation 
Fig. 1), as well as some long-lived fission products tolerance and desirable thermophysical properties. Not 
such as iodine and technetium [1]. At ANSTO, we only will these materials experience high radiation fields 
are developing materials which can encapsulate the in the reactor, but also extremely high temperatures.
actinides for use in two different and complementary Here we report our investigations into the incorporation 
waste management concepts, (1) conditioning and (2) of actinides within one such promising candidate 
transmutation: material which has use in both the conditioning and 
1. Advanced nuclear waste forms (conditioning) transmutation concepts.
Actinides are incorporated into the lattice of specific  
crystalline solids which have high radiation resistance Radiation tolerance in crystalline solids
and aqueous durability. These ‘waste forms’ can then be 
sent to a geological repository for long-term storage. Material choice draws on computer models and in-
2. Inert matrix and transmutation targets house experiments. Element choice is closely tied to 
(transmutation) the on-going separation research program, resulting in 
Partitioning and transmutation of the actinides potentially a combined approach to actinide separation and waste 
reduces the burden on a geological repository. The form or transmutation target design. This has pointed 
actinides are removed from the waste (partitioned) and to zirconia-based compounds which are considered 
fissioned in a reactor (transmutation). For example, suitable for both the transmutation and conditioning 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 73
Novel materials
Advanced nuclear waste forms
Figure 1
 
Ingestion radiotoxicity for typical spent UOX fuel (total radiotoxicity is broken up into fission products and actinides) and for the same spent fuel following 
P&T recycling with 99.9% removal of actinides from the waste stream. Values are normalised to natural uranium ore and its decay products [1].
strategies. Ordered derivatives of cubic zirconia are  the scanning electron microscope images (Fig. 2(a) and 
the pyrochlore-structured zirconates, Ln2Zr2O7  (b)), however high density is an essential requirement 
(Ln = lanthanides from La to Gd) and members of this for application as transmutation targets and durable 
family have been found to have remarkable resistance waste forms. This has formed the catalyst for the 
to amorphisation under ion-beam irradiation [2]. The group to develop a novel, simple, low-temperature 
cationic and anionic ordering within the pyrochlore chemical synthetic route for the preparation of dense, 
crystal structure is an extremely important variable and homogeneous zirconate ceramics. The method allows 
has been linked to this significant radiation tolerance intimate mixing in the aqueous phase at ambient 
[3]. The ordering can also be affected by actinide- temperature and produces zirconate pyrochlores 
doping, with the oxidation state of the actinide primarily with high density. Fig. 2(c) illustrates our extremely 
determining its location within the structure. Therefore successful processing result.
it is important to study the effect of actinide doping on The actinide oxidation state in each sample can be 
the ordering in the crystal structure and to determine determined using a combination of diffuse reflectance 
the actinide location and oxidation state within the and X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) 
pyrochlore matrix. spectroscopies. See Fig. 3 for typical XANES spectra 
(carried out on the Australian Synchrotron) for two such 
Incorporating actinides into the crystal uranium-doped matrices sintered in air. We found that 
structure all the air-sintered samples were consistent with a U6+ 
oxidation state, whilst those sintered in argon or H2/N2 
5+ 6+
Uranium- and plutonium-incorporated samples are atmospheres revealed mixed U /U  oxidation states. 
prepared in designated facilities within ANSTO’s Interestingly, this occurred even when Ca
2+ was added 
4+
Institute of Materials Engineering. Small samples to try to charge balance for U . 
(~1 g) are prepared and are sectioned for various There are two cationic crystallographic sites in the 
characterisation techniques. X-ray diffractometry and pyrochlore structure and the actinide element can 
scanning electron microscopy are used to determine the potentially be accommodated on either. Clues provided 
phase composition, sample purity and microstructure. from oxidation-state information along with refinement of 
The porous nature of the samples is clearly visible in high-resolution X-ray diffraction data can be used to 
74 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Figure 2 Figure 3
        
Backscattered scanning electron micrographs of (a) uranium-doped 
and (b) plutonium-doped pyrochlore ceramic matrices after sintering at 
1400°C. The dark areas are pores. Micrograph (c) shows the increased Normalised uranium (U) L2-edge XANES spectra of two uranium-
density achieved for a sample formed using our novel chemical doped samples sintered in air indicating a U6+ oxidation state. U4+,  
synthesis approach after sintering at a similar temperature. U5+ and U6+ standards are included for reference.
determine the location of the actinide within the matrix 
structure, i.e. on which cationic site does the actinide Figure 4
sit? Transmission electron microscopy can then provide 
specific information on the cationic/anionic ordering in 
the structure following actinide doping, as shown  
in Fig. 4.
Where to from here?
Considering the ability of the pyrochlore-structure phase 
to accommodate uranium and plutonium, zirconate Selected area diffraction patterns of two actinide-doped zirconate 
pyrochlores are promising host matrices for use as pyrochlores, viewing down the [110] zone axis. (a) shows sharp 
actinide transmutation targets and specialised nuclear spots characteristic of the ordered pyrochlore, while (b) shows 
waste forms. In future work we plan to investigate the diffuse scattering indicating incommensurate ordering within the structure.
radiation tolerance of this system through the synthesis 
and characterisation of 238Pu-doped samples. The 
long-term effects of α-decay events can be simulated References
by incorporating short-lived actinides, such as 238Pu [1]   “Potential Benefits and Impacts of Advanced Nuclear Fuel Cycles with Actinide 
(half-life of 87.7 years) [4]. This provides information on Partitioning and Transmutation”, 2011 Nuclear Energy Agency report available 
the radiation tolerance to α-decay events at accelerated online at: http://www.oecd-nea.org/science/reports/2011/6894-benefits-impacts-
advanced-fuel.pdf.
dose rates in laboratory time scales (~2 years) and 
will place ANSTO amongst a handful of organisations [2]   Ewing, R. C.; Weber, W. J.; Lian, J. J. Appl. Phys. 2004, 95, 5949.
worldwide that can undertake this type of research. [3]   Zhang, J.; Lian, J.; Zhang, F.; Wang, J.; Fuentes, A. F.; Ewing, R. C. J. Phys. Chem. C 2010, 114, 11810.
[4]   Weber, W. J.; Ewing, R. C.; Catlow, C. R. A.; Diaz de La Rubia, T.; Hobbs, L. 
W.; Kinoshita, C.; Matzke, Hj.; Motta, A. T.; Nastasi, M.; Salje, E. H. K.; Vance, 
E. R.; Zinkle, S. J. J. Mater. Res. 1998, 13, 1434.
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 75
Novel materials
eMnagteinrieaelsri ng
76 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Materials engineering
Material engineering investigates the relationship between the structure of 
materials at atomic or molecular scales, and the fundamental properties and 
characteristics of complex materials.
Computer modelling is becoming more and more important as it links the 
output from our state-of-the-art instrumentation to real models, giving a visual 
representation of ‘where atoms are and how they move’. These discoveries 
have applications within a diverse range of industries such as transportation 
and manufacturing.
For example, ANSTO is studying insulated rail joints, to help railway engineers 
better understand how residual stress fields evolve in order to develop rail joints 
with longer service lives.
Other ANSTO research has looked at how to create metals able to withstand 
extreme operating conditions; and models to assess residual stresses in steel 
welds to extend the service life of welded components to improve  safety.
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 77
Materials engineering
At the Wombat Diffractometer: David 
Carr, Bob Harrison, Saurabh Kabra, 
Klaus-Dieter Liss. (L-R)
78 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Viewing metals’ evolution at high temperature
Klaus-Dieter Liss1, Kun Yan1,2, Saurabh Kabra1, Lisa Thoennessen1,2, David G. Carr1, Robert P. Harrison1,  
Rian Dippenaar2
1ANSTO, 2University of Wollongong
The performance of metals under extreme operating conditions, such as high temperature, pressure, 
shock and mechanical load, is strongly linked to their microscopic structure. Modern research aims 
to make materials withstand even tougher conditions. While conventional metallurgical analysis uses 
quench-arrest (rapid cooling) techniques to study microstructural evolution, neutron and synchrotron 
X-ray facilities allow the study of those as well as the response of a material to mechanical 
deformation in situ and in real time. This tremendously advances the field, as many deformation 
mechanisms occurring at the atomic scale cannot be observed in other ways. One example relates  
to changes that occur in a zirconium alloy at high temperatures.
Why research on metals Microstructure evolution through heat 
treatment
Since the Bronze Age humans have melted and 
processed metals to manufacture advanced products Thermo-mechanical processing influences the 
for the most diverse applications in our daily life, with microstructure of metals, and heat treatment at elevated 
demanding mechanical strength, ductility, durability temperature can, for example, create precipitates 
and ease of use. Examples of materials that have been making the material stronger. On the other hand, heat 
developed to be used under these extreme conditions treatment of already deformed material might lead 
are high-strength steels to produce thinner, and to recovery, recrystallisation and grain growth, which 
therefore lighter automotive parts in addition to improved softens the material – a problem often encountered 
shock-absorbing capacity upon impact; high-strength, upon welding and joining. In order to assess the impact 
light-weight alloys for the aerospace industry to reduce of deformation and heat treatment on the resulting 
fuel costs; high-temperature materials for more effective mechanical properties of a material, one must fully 
turbine performance; radiation-resistant materials understand the underpinning fundamental physical 
for applications in the nuclear industry; materials mechanisms such as dislocation movement, phase 
possessing bio-compatibility in addition to complying transformations that might occur, diffusional processes 
with mechanical demands for medical implants; and and the response of the material to local stress 
micro-mechanical components for mechatronic devices. concentrations. 
Influence of microstructure on mechanical In situ neutron diffraction
properties
In our present studies, we analyse the thermo-physical 
Most metals comprise crystallite grains, which form behaviour of metallic materials by the use of in situ 
the building blocks of a useful piece of material. neutron diffraction techniques. These techniques allow 
These crystallites can be arranged in a multitude us to probe in real time the evolution and changes 
of ways and the same or multiple phases can be in microstructure, which are then correlated with 
moulded and shaped by a variety of mechanical complementary characterisation methods in order to 
deformation processes. The atomic mechanisms by better understand the fundamental driving forces for the 
which plastic deformation can occur are slip, twinning, material behaviour. Most of the in situ data, recorded 
vacancy diffusion, grain boundary sliding and stress- while the material was heated, held at temperature 
induced phase transformations. Resistance to plastic and cooled, was acquired using the high-intensity 
deformation can be enhanced by invoking distortions diffractometer Wombat [1] at the OPAL facility at 
into the crystal structure and creating barriers to lattice ANSTO. In addition high-resolution scans at pre-
dislocation motion. Examples are solute elements, selected holding temperatures were obtained using the 
precipitates, grain boundaries, dislocation structures, Echidna diffractometer [2].
and phase boundaries which must be circumvented in 
order to cause permanent deformation.
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 79
Materials engineering
Viewing metals’ evolution at high temperature
Figure 1
Diffraction pattern of Zr-2.5Nb at room temperature (top) and its temperature evolution (bottom) with intensities coded in color levels.
Materials that have been studied by these techniques thermal expansion of the different phases during the 
include zirconium alloys used in the nuclear industry; phase transformations, have not been determined in situ 
titanium alloys for use in bio-medical applications, as and in real time. Using a vacuum furnace on Wombat, 
well as in high-strength, light-weight applications in the we recorded for the first time, the crystalline properties 
aerospace industry; titanium-aluminium intermetallics of Zr-2.5Nb during the α-β phase transformation.
for use in high-temperature turbines in aerospace Fig. 1 shows a stacked sequence of individual 
engines [3]; and high-strength steels designed to reduce diffraction patterns with temperatures on the vertical 
mass and increase safety in the transportation industry axis, and intensity indicated by colour. The fraction 
[4]. A common theme in these investigations is the of the β-Zr(Nb) phase starts to increase above the 
attempt to better understand how enhanced mechanical eutectoid temperature of Teu = 883 K, i.e. the lowest 
properties can be obtained by alloying, heat treatment temperature and specific concentration, at which the 
and thermo-mechanical processing. In addition, we have system undergoes the transformation, while the α-Zr 
studied the way in which both diffusive and displacive vanishes totally at Tβ = 1133 K; in accordance with the 
phase-transformations play a role in the development of phase diagram. Apart from the structures, the effect of 
microstructrue. the alloying element Nb on this phase transformation 
process has been investigated. The arrow in Fig. 1 
Example: neutron diffraction of a zirconium locates the 200 peak of retained β-Zr(Nb). During the 
alloy [5] phase transformation the β-Zr(Nb) peak shifts to the 
position of the expected β-solid solution peak. 
In thermodynamic equilibrium, the important nuclear The strong changes in lattice parameter testify to 
reactor material, Zr-2.5Nb (mass %) consists of variations in the Nb concentration of the β-Zr(Nb) phase 
an α-Zr-rich phase with a hexagonal close-packed during the α−β transformation. 
structure and a β-Nb-rich phase with a body-centered We can evaluate the change in lattice parameter by 
cubic structure at room temperature. This two-phase a combination of Vegard’s law (the linear variation 
material has been widely researched with respect to of lattice parameter with concentration) and thermal 
microstructural characterisation following a variety of, expansion, Fig. 2, to obtain the Nb concentration in the 
high-temperature deformation and variant selection β-Zr(Nb) phase, which is superimposed as a trace on 
during phase transformation. However, the underlying the phase diagram in Fig. 3. Initially, the β-Zr(Nb) phase 
crystalline properties, e.g. the lattice parameters and contains 28% Nb, but as atomic diffusion becomes 
80 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Figure 2 Figure 3
 Nb concentration of β-Zr(Nb) phase during heating and cooling with the rate of 2 K/
min. The black line is the accepted Zr-Nb phase diagram; the red line represents the 
continuous heating process; the blue line represents the continuous cooling process 
while the dotted pink line is obtained by data acquired during 60 min temperature 
holding steps.
complementary image of the phase transformation 
process can be produced during heat treatment. The 
significance of this study is to disclose the transient 
Lattice parameters for the pure element β-phases as a behaviour relevant to the phase transformations in 
function of temperature, including the experimental data 
of the β-Zr(Nb) alloy upon heating and cooling. The dotted a Zr-2.5%Nb alloy. Detailed knowledge of phase 
line would correspond to a homogeneous solid solution of diagrams is vital for any materials studies. Here, we 
Zr-2.5Nb. have clearly recorded the decomposition behaviour in 
a fast, uncomplicated and concise way; this cannot be 
achieved by conventional studies which are usually 
more important during heating, Nb segregates up to obtained from ex-situ X-ray diffraction or dilatometric 
90% on 60 min holding steps. It then dilutes again to tests. This approach benefits investigations of a 
meet the eutectoid point at 18.5% and Teu, following multitude of multi-phase materials, and is not just limited 
from there on the β-transus line and eventually to metals. 
reaching the composition of the solid solution. The 
path reverses upon cooling and the concentration is 
quenched, in this case at 23% for the applied cooling 
rate. Since composition influences the microstructure, References
such knowledge of the kinetics is extremely important [1]   A.J. Studer, M.E. Hagen, T.J. Noakes, Physica B: Condensed Matter 2006, 
for the establishment and prediction of heat treatment 385-386, 1013.
in a manufacturing or welding process. Desired [2]   K.-D. Liss, B. Hunter, M. Hagen, T. Noakes, S. Kennedy: “Echidna—the 
concentrations can be fine-tuned and the operating new high-resolution powder diffractometer being built at OPAL”, Physica B: condensed matters 385-386/part 2 (2006), p. 1001-1002. Doi/10.1016/j.
temperatures for a work piece can be defined in a more physb.2006.05.322.
accurate way. [3]   Saurabh Kabra, Kun Yan, Svea Mayer, Thomas Schmoelzer, Mark Reid, 
Rian Dippenaar, Helmut Clemens, Klaus-Dieter Liss: “Phase transition and 
ordering behavior of ternary Ti–Al–Mo alloys using in situ neutron diffraction”, 
Conclusion International Journal of Materials Research 102/6 (2011), p. 697- 702, 
doi/10.3139/146.110528.
Neutron diffraction studies not only provide quantitative [4]   K. Yan, D.G. Carr, M.D. Callaghan, K-D. Liss, H. Li: “Deformation mechanisms 
phase analysis, but are also a method of analysing the of twinning induced plasticity steels: In situ synchrotron characterization and modeling”, Scripta Materialia 62/5 (2010), p. 246-249. doi/10.1016/j.
migration of alloying elements and their kinetics during scriptamat.2009.11.008.
phase transformations in situ and in real time. Evolution [5]   Kun Yan, David G. Carr, Saurabh Kabra, Mark Reid, Andrew Studer, Robert 
of lattice-parameter changes elucidate the variation of P. Harrison, Rian Dippenaar, Klaus-Dieter Liss: “In situ Characterization 
atomic concentrations during the phase transformation, of Lattice Structure Evolution during Phase Transformation of Zr-2.5Nb”, Advanced Engineering Materials, 13/9 (2011), p. 882-886 (+ Back Cover Page). 
which are dramatic during the eutectoid reaction in the doi/10.1002/adem.201000350 + doi/10.1002/adem.201190023.
Zr-2.5Nb system. Through analysis of the diffracted 
intensity and peak positions of different phases, a 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 81
Materials engineering
ANSTO’s research into welding is helping 
industry develop welding processes the will 
extend the service life and safety of welded 
components.
82 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Simulating phase transformations during the welding 
of ferritic steels
Cory Hamelin, Ondrej Muránsky, Philip Bendeich, Lyndon Edwards
ANSTO
Numerical analysis of welded structures is becoming more commonly accepted in the field of 
engineering safety. This brings new challenges, such as assessing residual stresses in ferritic (iron) 
steel welds, which are complex due to the structural changes that occur during welding. The following 
research highlights a solid state phase transformation model that has been developed to predict 
these structural changes.
Ultimately, this weld model may be used to optimise the welding process used for ferritic steels, 
which may help extend the service life of welded components.
The numerical analysis of welded structures Preliminary benchmark studies were performed in 
single-pass welded structures, where a weld is made 
The study of welds – most importantly, the residual by depositing filler metal during a solitary pass of the 
stresses induced during welding – is receiving greater welding torch. Subsequent work has been successfully 
attention within a wide range of engineering fields. In performed in multi-pass welds, where tens or hundreds 
general, residual stresses are confined internal stresses of weld passes may be required to deposit the 
that exist in a structural component in the absence of necessary amount of filler metal; these welds are more 
external loading or thermal gradient. Weld-induced complex due to thermal cycling in the metal surrounding 
residual stresses are a particular concern in safety- the weld, as the welding torch repeatedly heats the 
critical components and assemblies, since these material and it then cools between each pass. 
stresses may lead to the premature failure of a given To a similar extent, the types of materials involved in a 
system. One of the most common failure methods is welding process display a varying level of complexity 
the creation and propagation of cracks that develop in when simulating their behaviour. Most weld studies 
or near welds; the problem of premature cracking is have focused on commonly used pressure vessel and 
exacerbated by the presence of a severe thermal or piping materials, including austenitic stainless steel and 
corrosive environment. For this reason, the effects of nickel-based superalloys. However, austenitic steel 
welds are considered when performing remaining-life welds are well understood, straightforward processes to 
assessments and safety inspection schedules for the model when compared to their ferritic steel counterparts 
power generation industry, where a complex system (which are also frequently used for piping); the reason 
of welded components and piping are used to produce for this discrepancy stems from the crystal structure 
and deliver steam to turbines. As the cost associated found in each material. As illustrated in Fig. 1, austenite 
with extensive experimental analyses can be prohibitive, possesses a face-centred cubic (fcc) lattice, whereas 
simulations via numerical analyses are employed ferritic steel is predominantly body-centred cubic (bcc). 
to predict the weld-induced residual stress field in a The iron (Fe) atoms are arranged closer in a fcc steel 
component. These predicted stresses may then be used relative to a bcc steel; should a bcc-fcc transformation of 
to study the in-service structural integrity of an object. phases occur, volumetric shrinkage of the transforming 
material is observed. In contrast, the occurrence of 
The importance of solid-state phase an fcc-bcc transformation would result in a volumetric 
transformations expansion of the transformed material. While austenitic 
steels are stable through a wide range of temperatures, 
Currently, finite-element models are capable of the extreme heating and cooling encountered during 
accurately predicting the residual stress field (and welding of ferritic steels causes a phase transition in the 
the resultant distortion) in a wide variety of welds. metal (Fig. 1); from a bcc structure to an fcc structure 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 83
Materials engineering
Simulating phase transformations during the welding of ferritic steels
Figure 1 Model validation
To test the accuracy of the ABAQUS subroutine, a 
weld model has been constructed in collaboration 
with the European Network on Neutron Techniques 
Standardisation for Structural Integrity (NeT), via a 
Task Group (TG5) that is concerned primarily with the 
analysis of ferritic steel welds. Within this task group, 
a series of autogenous beam welds have been laid on 
specimens of ferritic steel commonly used for power 
plant components (SA508 Gr.3 Cl.1 steel) using a 
conventional gas metal arc welding technique; Fig. 2 
shows one of the welded samples. Two sets of samples 
were produced, with the primary variable being the 
speed at which the welding torch passes across the 
weldment (i.e. the torch speed). One set of samples was 
prepared with a torch speed of 5 mm/s, while a second 
set of samples was prepared using a torch speed of  
Representative thermo-mechanical cycle in ferritic steel welding 1.25 mm/s. These variations in the welding torch speed 
processes. The weldment first undergoes heating (line A-B-C-D): as bcc have resulted in different heating and cooling rates 
ferrite is heated to point B, the metal experiences thermal expansion. during welding, and consequently in different steady-
Between points B and C, the crystal structure transforms from ferrite to state microstructures observed in each sample set. 
austenite, resulting in a contraction of the metal due to the increased 
atomic density of fcc metal. The inverse cycle occurs upon cooling (line Predictions of these phase compositions have been 
D-E-F-A); a variation in transformation temperatures exists (point E made using an ABAQUS thermal analysis, calibrated 
vs. point B) due to the rapid heating and cooling rates involved in the using thermocouple data taken during the welding 
welding process, which delays the transformation process.
studies. Once an accurate thermal history is reproduced 
in the model, the predicted phase composition is 
captured. Using an approach developed by Maynier et 
during heating/welding and an inverse transition upon al. [3], the phase distribution and chemical composition 
cooling. The structural changes associated with these of the steel can be used to predict the local hardness  
phase transformations can have a dramatic effect on of the heat-affected weld metal. This phase-specific 
the final residual stress field in a ferritic steel weldment. hardness data can then be compared to measured 
The transformation kinetics involved are complex and microhardness data, which has been collected from  
dependent on a number of variables, which is why the samples using a Nano Indenter G300 [4]. Fig. 3 
many current numerical weld analyses use simplified compares the predicted hardness profiles of both 
approximations of the phenomena, or exclude these sample sets to measured values. Good agreement can 
transformations entirely. be seen in each study, thus validating the phase-
transformation subroutine developed.
Developing a model
Outlook
Research conducted within ANSTO’s Structural 
Integrity group is currently focused on identifying the The successful prediction of phase composition in ferritic 
key material parameters required to predict solid-state steel welds is merely the first step of a comprehensive 
phase transformation kinetics during welding of ferritic structural integrity analysis for safety-critical engineering 
steels. The present approach employs a semi-empirical components. Subsequent analyses will attempt to 
methodology developed by Kirkaldy and Venugopalan validate the residual stress profiles predicted with a fully 
[1], whereby the chemical composition and the average coupled thermo-mechanical weld model in ABAQUS, 
grain size of the steel are the main parameters using measurements of the NeT TG5 samples via 
required to calibrate the model. Such an approach is the Kowari stress diffractometer at ANSTO [5]. Once 
advantageous because many other models require a the model has been fully validated, studies may be 
set of experimental analyses be carried out for model conducted to predict the susceptibility of such welds 
calibration. The essentials of the Kirkaldy-Venugopalan to cracking, and to ascertain what effect the presence 
model have been integrated into a user-defined of welds may have to safety inspection schedules and 
subroutine for the ABAQUS finite-element package, the remaining-life assessment of welded structures. 
which is the software package currently used within our Ultimately, these weld models may be used to optimise 
Institute to predict weld-induced residual stresses [2]. the welding process used for ferritic steels, in an attempt 
to extend the service life of welded components.
84 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Simulating phase transformations during the welding of ferritic steels
Figure 2
Representative TG5 sample: an autogenous beam weld in SA508 Gr.3 Cl.1 steel, with run-on and run-off tabs to ensure a 
uniform weld bead is laid on the specimen. Dimensions are 180 x 10 x 50 mm3 (l x w x h).
Figure 3
Predicted post-weld steady-state phase compositions with torch speeds of: (a) 5.00 mm/s; and (b) 1.25 mm/s. Phases are 
validated via hardness profiles. (c) A representative steady-state beam weld profile in SA508 steel (not to scale).
References [4]   C.J. Hamelin, O. Muránsky, P.J. Bendeich, K. Short and L. Edwards, Predicting 
[1]   J.S. Kirkaldy and D. Venugopalan, in: Phase Transformations in Ferrous Alloys, solid-state phase transformations during welding of ferritic steels, Materials 
edited by A.R. Marder and J.I. Goldstein, TMS Publications, Warrendale PA, Science Forum, 706-709, 1403-1408 (2012).
125-148 (1984). [5]   O. Kirstein, V. Luzin, A. Brule, H. Nguyen and D. Tawfik, Kowari – OPAL’s 
[2]   O. Muránsky, C.J. Hamelin, M.C. Smith, P.J. Bendeich and L. Edwards, The residual stress diffractometer and its application to materials science and 
effect of plasticity theory on predicted residual stress fields in numerical weld engineering, Advanced Materials Research, 41-42, 439-444 (2008).
analyses, Computational Materials Science, 54, 125-134 (2012).
[3]   P. Maynier, J. Dollet and P. Bastien, in: Hardenability Concepts with Applications 
to Steels, edited by D.V. Doane and J.S. Kirkaldy, AIME, New York, NY, 518-544 
(1978).
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 85
Materials engineering
Understanding residual stress in insulated 
rail points is vital for rail maintenance and 
extending service lives.
86 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
An investigation of residual stresses in insulated  
rail joints
David Wexler2, Chandrahas Rathod2, Huijun Li2, Manicka Dhanasekar3, Vladimir Luzin1 
1ANSTO, 2University of Wollongong, 3Queensland University of Technology, CRC for Rail Innovation 
Insulated rail joints (IRJs) are an integral part of any rail track system, as they split a continuous rail 
track into electrically isolated sections for signalling and easy detection of rail track damage. Bonded 
IRJs are safety-critical components that must satisfy requirements for structural integrity as well as 
the isolation function for both railway signalling and track condition monitoring systems.
In heavy haul corridors in Australia and around the world, IRJs are periodically replaced due to 
accumulated damage in their railhead, often within 10-20% of the useful life of other rail components. 
Their replacement is the single largest track maintenance cost in New South Wales, apart from 
track ballast work. Neutron diffraction can tell us what happens to material and residual stresses 
within used rails and trace down accumulation of damage caused by stresses throughout rail service 
history.
The study is helping railway engineers better understand how residual stress fields evolve in service 
and enable them to develop IRJs with longer service lives, as well as determine the most appropriate 
rail maintenance and replacement schedules for safe and economic operation.
Role of stress in rail damage IRJs and their damage
A number of serious incidents, including fatal The above mentioned effects change significantly 
derailments and train-on-train impacts, have been in IRJs because they are somewhat different from 
attributed to rail and rail-end failures resulting from continuous rail. Essentially IRJs comprise two rail ends 
rolling-contact fatigue. Most of the various mechanisms and a narrow gap in the rail filled with insulator, and a 
of rail failure are related to the interaction between support structure including bolted fishplates on both 
defects and the residual stress field at and below the sides of the rails, which are electrically isolated from 
rail surface. Residual stresses are generated in rails the track by a layer of glue and help add rigidity to 
first as a result of the manufacturing processes, which the IRJ, as shown in Fig. 1. IRJs represent a different 
include hot-rolling (shaping rails from a billet), roller- support structure to standard tracks as they endure 
straightening (final cold rolling through multiple rollers an additional impact-forces distribution arising from 
to achieve geometrical tolerance) and head-hardening the wheel-to-rail contact in special conditions of the 
(heat treatment to achieve high hardness). In service, rail gap and the rail ends. For example, failure can 
the running surfaces of rails are subjected to repeated occur when metal flows over the insulated rail gap 
rolling-contact loading through interaction with train (typically 6-8 mm width) breaks the electrically isolated 
wheels, and the rail itself is subject to a variety of section of track and results in malfunction of the track 
complex stresses and strains. Stresses are usually so signalling system. This can happen well before any 
high that they can cause plastic deformation around the other defects, such as cracks or surface voids, start 
contact surface and modify the stress field and material to develop. Therefore, a significant amount of track 
properties near the running line and internally in the maintenance work is dedicated to the inspection of rail 
railhead. Track fracture can result from one or more ends. As a maintenance procedure the head of the 
progressive defects, the propagation of which is also rail may be ground periodically to restore the correct 
influenced by residual and contact stresses in the rail. head profile, to remove surface cracks before they 
grow too big, or to move the wheel-rail contact position 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 87
Materials engineering
An investigation of residual stresses in insulated rail joints
Figure 1
Left: 4-bolt square ended IRJ: two rail sections are connected by means of bolted fishplates on both sides of the rail; an insulator, placed in the gap 
between two rail sections, forms a rail-post. Right: Metal flow in damaged end-post.
across the vicinity of the end-post in order to extend the high penetration. For neutrons the penetration depth 
life of the IRJs. In case of severe damage, when the in steel is 100 times greater than that of X-rays. There 
rail is approaching an unsafe condition, rail sections are a handful of known examples of use of neutron 
containing IRJs are replaced. In heavy haul rail systems, diffraction to investigate residual stresses in rail and 
IRJs’ periodical replacement due to accumulated most of the studies have been performed on rail slices 
damage in their railhead may be necessary after only because the railhead thickness of 70 mm is still too 
2-3 years of service or within 10% of the useful life of great even for neutrons. Although stresses are partially 
other rail components. Apart from track ballast work, eliminated by slicing, this approach allows stresses 
IRJ replacement represents the most significant track to be mapped much faster, more accurately and over 
maintenance expense in the rail network. larger areas. In our study one transverse slice and 
one longitudinal slice was machined out of each rail 
Researching IRJs sample. They were studied in residual stress experiment 
with gauge volume (probing volume) of 2 x 2 x 2 mm3, 
accuracy of ±30 MPa and using the iron (211) Bragg 
A research project was initiated by the Cooperative 
reflection.
Research Centre for Rail Innovation to address this 
problem and supported by industrial partners (the 
Australian Track and Rail Corporation, Queensland Rail) Mapping the stress 
and academic institutions (University of Wollongong, 
Queensland University of Technology, University of (1) Drastic changes in residual stress state were found 
Central Queensland). We use neutron diffraction to in the rail head of the selected samples, see Fig. 2. 
investigate the material stress accumulation at rail ends Compressive stress (shown as blue areas) immediately 
in the vicinity of the insulated gap in IRJs - this is the under the top surface, which is induced due to the 
area of rail subjected to the most damage. service load from train movement, is counteracted by 
By selecting a series of samples with different service a wide zone of tension (red areas) that potentially can 
histories the investigation provided fundamental cause defect growth (Fig. 2a). The rail material also 
information about residual stresses accumulation, undergoes transformation as shown in Fig. 2b changing 
material properties evolution and how these might from harder steel (shown in red) to softer (shown in 
change during degradation of IRJs. The samples blue). This happens differently across railhead and 
selected for this investigation are rail ends from square- evolves noticeably with the service span.
ended IRJs made from the same steel type (Australian (2) The distributions of stresses close to the end-posts 
standard A1085.1 60 kg grade) and manufacturer. Rail are different from the bulk parts because of different 
ends from IRJs described as ‘partly damaged’ and ‘badly loading conditions and this is demonstrated in Fig. 3a. 
damaged’ will be compared with a rail end in the ‘not The material close to the IRJ rail end-post is more 
damaged’, as-manufactured, condition. damaged then material in the continuous rail as shown 
in Fig. 3b by a differential stress map for the longitudinal 
Neutron stress measurements component. Damage accumulation is mostly happening 
5-10 mm beneath the surface and progresses with rail 
Neutron diffraction is particularly suited to the non- service (can be seen as enhancement of the features  
destructive mapping of complex internal stress fields in Fig. 3b).
within dense materials such as steel, because of the 
88 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Figure 2
 Not damaged Partly damaged Badly damaged MPa, Å
Evolution of the residual stress and material lattice parameter in rails of different service history. The railhead is 70 mm across. a) In the stress maps, 
the red areas represent high tensile stress while the blue areas correspond to high compressive stress. b) In the lattice parameter maps, larger 
d-spacing are shown in red while small d-spacing values are blue.
Figure 3
 Not damaged Partly damaged Badly damaged MPa
a) Evolution of the residual stress longitudinal component in rails of different service history obtained on longitudinal slices (maps top left corner 
corresponds to the top corner of the end-post). Patch size is 60 x 60 mm2. b) Differential longitudinal stress component maps are obtained by 
subtracting stress values representing bulk material from the values representing material of IRJ.
Projected outcomes mechanical models and damage mechanisms. The 
The stress distributions determined experimentally combined experimental and modelling efforts will help 
can be used to validate finite-element simulations railway engineers to better understand how residual 
carried out at Queensland University of Technology to stress fields evolve in service and enable them to 
assess progressive damage accumulation in material develop IRJs with longer service lives, as well as to 
of IRJ through elastic-plastic deformation history and determine the most appropriate rail maintenance and 
residual stress evolution. Our detailed stress maps will replacement schedules for safe and economic operation.
allow us to narrow the selection of the correct material 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 89
b) Diff. long. stress a) Long. stress b) d0, Å  a) Trans
Materials engineering
fNoerw n ateticohnnaol logies security
90 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
New technologies for national security
ANSTO’s researchers are helping to develop a range of new detectors 
including new forms of compound semiconductor radiation detectors for use in 
medicine, industry and astronomy, and new border security radiation detection 
systems for the detection of illicitly trafficked radiological and nuclear material.
Our scientists are also developing new methods for handling and processing 
crime scene evidence from radiological crime scenes; and developing new 
and improved techniques for detector instrument calibration for very sensitive 
detectors used to measure of radionuclides in the environment at very low 
concentration levels.
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 91
New technologies for  
national security
Tegan Evans is working within the 
confines of a glove box to enhance  
a contaminated fingermark under 
505 nm light.
92 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Investigating the impact of radiation and radioactive 
contamination on forensic trace evidence
Tegan Evans1, Daniel Brew1, Kaitlyn Toole1, Michael Colella1, Chris Lennard2, Claude Roux3, Simon Walsh4  
1ANSTO, 2University of Canberra, 3University of Technology, Sydney, 4Australian Federal Police, Forensic and  
Data Centres
The collection, handling and analysis of forensic evidence from a radiological crime scene presents 
significant challenges. The potential for the use of radioactive materials in a malevolent act has 
been heightened in recent years, and it is highly likely that some or all of the physical evidence 
recovered after such an event may have been exposed to ionising radiation or contaminated with 
radioactive material. Authorities need a way to safely collect, handle and examine potential evidence 
contaminated with radioactive material. This research explores the impact that high-energy alpha 
particles have on traditional evidence types including fingermarks, DNA, hairs and fibres. The study 
also assesses existing methods and develops new forensic procedures for handling and processing 
traditional evidence contaminated with alpha emitting radioactive material.
What is nuclear forensics? Fingermarks
Exposure of a porous surface such as paper to alpha 
Nuclear forensic science, internationally referred to radiation, either before or after the deposition of 
as ‘nuclear forensics’, is the comprehensive scientific fingermarks, was detrimental to the ability to develop 
analysis of nuclear or other radioactive materials or fingermarks when doses were greater than 250 kGy. 
contaminated materials in the context of a State’s In Fig. 1, the alpha-beam track is observed through the 
obligations under international law, including criminal centre of the developed fingermark. It can be seen that 
or civil proceedings [1]. The Nuclear Forensics the damage incurred at 1000 kGy significantly impedes 
Research Facility at ANSTO has been established to the ability to recognise identifiable features that are 
accommodate the requirements for handling radioactive required for fingermark comparison.
or nuclear material or contaminated materials that Hairs and fibres
require forensic exploitation. A traditional forensic 
laboratory does not possess the facilities to handle Using a range of analytical techniques, it was observed 
radioactive material and therefore a facility such as that that the surface and chemical structures of hairs and 
developed at ANSTO is required to ensure a national fibres were mostly resistant to alpha radiation at the 
capacity to deal with a radiological crime scene. energies and doses employed. Minimal effects were 
identified in dyed hair as well as acrylic, cotton and wool 
fibres. Nylon and polyester fibres showed significant 
What is the impact of alpha radiation on resistance to alpha radiation-induced damage. 
forensic trace evidence?
Alpha radiation is a type of ionising radiation in the What is the impact of contamination on 
form of particles, namely helium nuclei, with very low forensic trace evidence?
penetration but high energy. If contaminants containing 
alpha-particle emitters are inhaled or ingested, they can We have also been able to demonstrate effective 
cause damage to cells. We set out to explore the impact laboratory methods for the processing of evidence 
of alpha-radiation on forensic trace evidence. contaminated with radioactive material. In the nuclear 
industry, glove boxes are commonly used for the 
ANSTO’s 2 MV Tandetron STAR accelerator was used isolation of alpha contamination. Although external 
to expose fingermarks, hairs and fibres to helium ions, contamination with alpha-emitting radioisotopes 
representative of the energies and doses that may occur poses little health risk (due to their low penetration), 
through exposure to common alpha-emitting sources. should they enter the body then the high ionising 
It was identified that alpha radiation inflicted damage power of alpha particles means that significant cellular 
on forensic trace evidence that may affect the ability to damage may occur. A glove box enables the handling 
analyse and interpret the evidence types studied. of contaminated evidence whilst maintaining a safe 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 93
New technologies for  
national security
Investigating the impact of radioactive contamination on forensic trace evidence
Figure 1 Figure 2
Developed (using indanedione-zinc) fingermarks on paper exposed to alpha Glove boxes used for examination of forensic trace 
radiation at (l-r) 50, 250, and 1000 kGy prior to fingermark deposition. evidence in ANSTO’s Nuclear Forensics Research Facility.
Figure 3
C GB GB C C GB GB  C
Fingermarks on glass developed using cyanoacrylate fuming with Rhodamine 6G stain solution. Imaged under 505 nm Polilight® and a KV550  
long-pass barrier filter. 
user environment, but the restricted environment of a and a secondary ventilation system installed to vent the 
glove box was particularly challenging for examining cyanoacrylate fumes.
contaminated evidence. However the trialled techniques The second technique requires the porous sample 
proved successful for most evidence types that were (paper) to be submerged in a prepared solution, dried 
investigated. and then heated in a heat press. Due to size constraints 
Fingermarks imposed by the glove box a commercially available hair 
The introduction of two bench-top fingermark straightener was successfully substituted for the heat 
development and enhancement techniques to the glove press. Comparison of the results of the bench-top (C) 
box was successful. To allow these techniques to be and glove box (GB) techniques for cyanoacrylate fuming 
employed, an essential modification to the glove box is provided. 
was the inclusion of a variable wavelength light source Fibres
(Polilight®) and camera system to allow image capture In general, the contamination and the ensuing 
in situ. decontamination of fibres had no impact on subsequent 
The first technique, for non-porous surfaces such as forensic analysis. The decontamination procedure, an 
glass, requires superglue to be heated to 100oC. This optimised technique developed in previous research 
produces cyanoacrylate fumes which react with the [2], was the immersion of the sample in a detergent 
fingermark residue to form a white deposit along the and water solution (2% Decon 90™) and cleaning for 
ridges of the fingermark. To visualise the fingermark, a 5 minutes using ultrasonication to loosen particles 
dye, known as Rhodamine 6G stain solution, is applied. adhering to the sample surface, before rinsing. This 
This enables visual enhancement using specific lighting procedure resulted in satisfactory decontamination 
and filters. To employ this technique in the glove box, a without damaging the fibre. 
modified fuming chamber with a hotplate was retrofitted 
94 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Investigating the impact of radioactive contamination on forensic trace evidence
Figure 4
Microspectrophotometry spectra of a blue acrylic fibre (left) and a red acrylic fibre (right). The control sample is overlayed with the treated samples 
showing no discernible difference as a result of contamination and subsequent decontamination. 
Figure 5
 Colour changes observed in red polyester fibres with increasing doses. Shown fibres exposed to (l-r) 0, 10, 100, 1000 kGy.
What about other types of radiation? References
[1]  Office of Nuclear Security, draft non-paper Development of National Nuclear 
In 2007, we completed a project assessing the impact Forensics Libraries, 2011, International Atomic Energy Agency: Vienna.
of gamma radiation on forensic trace evidence [3-7],  [2]  Parkinson, A., Evans, T., Roux, C., Abbondante, S., Hill, D., and  
Colella, M., NSST 06-032 Project: The Assessment of Post-Incident 
identifying the impact on specific evidence types at Radiological Decontamination Materials, 2008, Australian Nuclear Science  
particular dose intervals. These results indicated that and Technology Organisation: Sydney. 
some types of evidence, such as human hair, paint chips [3]  Abbondante, S.F., The Effect of Radioactive Materials on Forensic DNA 
and fingermarks, are not degraded by gamma radiation Evidence: Procedures and Interpretation, 2009, University of Canberra.
whilst others, such as fibres, glass and trace DNA, [4]  Colella, M., Evans, T., Parkinson, A., Roux, C., Lennard, C., Robertson, J., 
demonstrated damage to various degrees. Abbondante, S., and Hill, D., NSST 06-031 Project: The Impact of Ionising 
Radiation on Forensic Trace Evidence, 2009, Australian Nuclear Science and 
Fig. 5 shows the impact gamma radiation had on red Technology Organisation: Sydney.
polyester fibres as a function of dose: the intensity of [5]  Colella, M., Parkinson, A., Evans, T., Robertson, J., Roux, C., The Effect of 
the colour of the red polyester fibre diminishes with Ionizing Gamma Radiation on Natural and Synthetic Fibers and its Implications 
increasing dose, almost to a point of bleaching at the for the Forensic Examination of Fiber Evidence, Journal of Forensic Sciences, 56(3), 591-605 (2011).
1000 kGy exposure. This highlights the importance [6]   Parkinson, A., Colella, M. and Evans, T., The Development and Evaluation of 
of understanding the effects of radiation on forensic Radiological Decontamination Procedures for Documents, Document Inks, and 
evidence.  Latent Fingermarks on Porous Surfaces, Journal of Forensic Sciences, 55(3), 
728-734 (2010). 
[7]  Colella, M., Parkinson, A., Evans, T., Lennard, C., Roux, C., The Recovery of 
Acknowledgements Latent Fingermarks from Evidence Exposed to Ionising Radiation, Journal of 
Forensic Sciences, 54(3), 583-590 (2009). 
This work is supported by the Department of Prime 
Minister and Cabinet, National Security Science and 
Technology Branch, under contract PR07-0093, the 
Australian Federal Police and Australian Emergency 
Management. 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 95
New technologies for  
national security
Meet a new generation radiation detector. 
Its future promises applications ranging from 
medical imaging to national security.
96 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Towards realisation of novel semiconductor  
radiation detectors 
Ramin Rafiei1, David Boardman1, Mark I. Reinhard1, Adam Sarbutt1, Dale A. Prokopovich1, KiHyun Kim2,  
Aleksey E. Bolotnikov2, Ralph B. James2
1ANSTO, 2Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA
Semiconductor gamma-ray and X-ray detectors are being used increasingly in medicine, industry, 
astronomy and national security. Conventional semiconductor detectors are manufactured from 
germanium and silicon. Such materials have become less useful in many emerging applications due 
to their physical limitations such as low detection efficiency or their need to operate at cryogenic 
temperatures. 
This research contributes towards the development of compound semiconductor radiation detectors 
based on cadmium manganese telluride (CdMnTe) that operate at room temperature and with a 
high stopping power. With continued improvements in crystal quality and detector fabrication, this 
research could lead to the development of a new generation of radiation detectors for use in medical 
imaging and in national security applications.
Compound semiconductors: CdMnTe a detector thickness and hence its application. It is also 
promising candidate imperative to measure the uniformity of the charge-
transport properties across the detector, allowing for the 
CdMnTe is a promising compound semiconductor. identification of surface and bulk features which affect 
While previously investigated for applications in optical charge transport through the device.
isolators (transmission of light in only one direction using ANSTO and Brookhaven National Laboratory jointly 
the Faraday effect), infra-red detectors and tuneable investigate and improve the performance of CdMnTe 
solid state lasers, its application as a radiation detector detectors [2] and their properties. The CdMnTe crystals 
was first investigated in 1999 [1]. Its distinct advantages were grown by the vertical Bridgman technique [2]. 
of good compositional homogeneity and a highly A manganese fraction of 5 %, corresponding to a 
tuneable band-gap (energy difference between the top band-gap of 1.59 eV, was chosen for optimum room 
of the valence band and the bottom of the conduction temperature spectral performance. To grow high-
band in insulators and semiconductors) compared to resistivity CdMnTe, the crystal was doped with indium. 
CdZnTe and CdTe, which have been leading room Indium, which is a donor compensates for the high 
temperature detector candidates for over three decades, concentration of Cd vacancies which act as acceptor 
have encouraged CdMnTe detector developments in centres in CdMnTe. 
recent years. The samples were cut to a size of 10 x 10 x 1.9 mm3. 
A detailed understanding of the fundamental charge Infrared imaging of the CdMnTe samples prior to their 
transport properties of CdMnTe radiation detectors is clean-room fabrication revealed networks of tellurium 
essential for detector developments. The most useful inclusions distributed throughout their bulk, as shown in 
figure of merit is the mobility-lifetime product which Fig. 1, and at an average concentration of 4.6 x 105 cm-3.
quantifies the charge carrier transport through the 
detector. While for silicon and germanium this figure is 
greater than unity, for compound semiconductors this Clean-room CdMnTe detector fabrication
figure is up to 100,000 times less. The main cause of 
this performance shortfall can be traced to trapping Each sample was mechanically polished with a 
centres caused by impurities and lack of stoichiometry deionised water-based slurry of alumina powder in order 
in the material. Low mobility-lifetime product results of decreasing alumina particle sizes of 1 μm, 0.3 μm and 
in short carrier drift lengths and limits the maximum 0.05 μm until extremely smooth surfaces were achieved. 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 97
New technologies for  
national security
Towards realisation of novel semiconductor radiation detectors 
Figure 1 Figure 2
Ramin Rafiei holding a 10 x 10 x 1.9 mm3 CdMnTe radiation detector.
points follows the Hecht analysis [3] and produces  
an average electron mobility-lifetime product of   
8.5(±0.4) x 10-4 cm2V-1.
An infrared image of a 1.2 x 2.0 mm2 area just beneath the CdMnTe Uniform charge-carrier transport is critical to the 
surface. The dark dots are tellurium inclusions. The image shows 
a network of tellurium inclusions which extend from one side of the spectroscopic performance of CdMnTe detectors. Ion 
crystal to the other. beam induced charge (IBIC) measurements, utilising 
4He2+ beams from the ANTARES accelerator at ANSTO, 
have revealed the charge transport of these devices 
To prepare the CdMnTe crystal surfaces for metal down to micron scale resolution. Fig. 4 (top panel) is 
contact deposition, each sample was etched in an IBIC image showing the charge collection efficiency 
an optimum 0.1% bromine-methanol solution for  across an area of 1449 x 1449 μm2 and at an applied 
5 minutes. Prior to metal deposition, the four contacts bias of 400 V. Such images have quantified how major 
on the front surface of the sample were patterned by impurities such as tellurium inclusions present within the 
photolithography. To ensure excellent adhesion strength detector bulk (and clearly visible in Fig. 4 as areas of 
of the gold to the CdMnTe surface, we adopted a two- reduced charge collection), affect the charge collection 
step thermal deposition of 5 nm chromium followed by  of these devices. These measurements have also 
a 150 nm gold layer. The detector test structures consist shown that the role of tellurium inclusions in degrading 
of a 2 x 2 array of evenly spaced 4 mm2 squares and  charge collection is reduced with increasing values of 
π mm2 circles, both with and without guard rings.  bias voltage. In contrast to the top panel of  Fig. 4, the 
A single uniform contact covers the entire rear side.  bottom panel is an IBIC image showing uniform charge 
A fabricated CdMnTe detector is shown in Fig. 2. collection at a value approaching 100%. The edges 
of the contact and the guard ring structure are clearly 
Charge-transport properties of CdMnTe visible.
Single charge-transient measurements provided the drift 
Time-resolved transient current measurements and time of the electrons across the detector. Using these 
alpha-spectroscopy measurements have been used transit times the drift velocity of the electrons has been 
to measure the charge-collection efficiency of CdMnTe calculated and is shown in Fig. 5, as a function of the 
detectors. Fig. 3 shows the dependence of the charge- applied electric field. From the region of proportionality 
collection efficiency on the applied bias voltage. The in Fig. 5, the room temperature mobility of the CdMnTe 
sample was found to be 718(±55) cm2average charge-collection efficiency across the detector /Vs. Knowing the 
increases with higher bias values and approaches 100% electron mobility-lifetime product the electron carrier 
at the highest applied bias of 1000 V. The fit to the data lifetime is 1.2(±0.1) μs. 
98 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Towards realisation of novel semiconductor radiation detectors 
Figure 3 Figure 4
The evolution of the average charge-collection efficiency across 
the CdMnTe detector with applied bias voltage. The efficiency 
approaches 100% for the highest bias measurement. The measured 
data points have been fitted using the Hecht model to obtain the 
mobility-lifetime product.
Summary and path ahead 
The ANSTO-Brookhaven detector collaboration covers 
the areas of crystal growth, detector fabrication and 
characterisation. Knowledge gained from our recent 
measurements has already led to the growth of CdMnTe 
crystals with modified stoichiometry. These crystals 
have been fabricated into radiation detectors and initial 
measurements on these generation II devices show Spatially resolved charge-collection efficiency maps of the CdMnTe 
an order of magnitude improvement in the electron detector. On this colour scale blue signifies low charge collection, 
mobility-lifetime product. Continued improvements in while regions of high charge collection are represented in red. In the 
crystal quality and detector fabrication will be required top panel regions of poor efficiency are spread throughout the bulk 
for the realisation of state-of-the-art radiation detectors and are associated with the tellurium network. In contrast, a region with uniform charge collection approaching 100% is presented in the 
in medical and national security applications. bottom panel. The edges of the contact and the guard ring structure 
(green coloured) are clearly visible
Figure 5
References
[1]   A. Burger et al., Crystal growth, fabrication and evaluation of cadmium 
manganese telluride gamma ray detectors, J. Cryst. Growth, 198/199, 872-876 
(1999).
[2]   R. Rafiei et al., Investigation of the charge collection efficiency of CdMnTe 
radiation detectors, IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci., 59, 634-641 (2012).
[3]   Y. Nemirovsky, A. Ruzin, G. Asa, and J. Gorelik, Study of the charge collection 
efficiency of CdZnTe radiation detectors, J. Electron. Mater, 25, 1221-1231 
(1996).
Carrier-drift velocity as a function of the applied electric field. From 
the region of proportionality the carrier mobility has been extracted.
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 99
New technologies for  
national security
In cool climate rainforests moss is an 
indication of pure uncontaminated air.
100 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Improving low-level gamma spectrometric 
measurements to study contamination in 
environmental samples 
Aimee McNamara2, Henk Heijnis1, Daniela Fierro1, Mark Reinhard1
1ANSTO, 2University of Sydney, 
Measuring radionuclides in the environment at very low concentration levels is of increasing 
importance to ensuring we have a proper means of minitoring the impact of nuclear activities on the 
environment.
Many aspects of environmental monitoring require very sensitive detection techniques for precise 
measurement of the very low levels of radionuclides found in the environment.
This need has driven the development of new detector instrumentation, which in turn has prompted 
the need for more complex techniques for instrument calibration. ANSTO has developed new 
techniques based on Monte-Carlo simulation to determine accurate calibrations of a specialised 
high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometer used to measure radionuclides at environmental levels in a 
variety of sample matrices and geometries.
Introduction to the technique used We used Monte Carlo simulations as an alternative to 
empirical calibration to assess the correction factors 
High-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry is routinely specific to the detector design and overall energy 
used for measuring radionuclides in a variety of calibration of a Compton-suppressed spectrometer 
purposes. In environmental contexts the presence of specific to radionuclides in environment contexts. 
radionuclides is typically at very low concentrations 
challenging the performance of traditional approaches. Detector specifications
Reducing the spectral background to allow better 
detection of small gamma-ray signatures in Measurements were performed with a Compton-
environmental samples can be achieved using suppressed reverse-electrode high-purity germanium 
Compton-suppression techniques [2]. Compton (HPGe) detector (Model GR5022 from the company 
scattering is a type of scattering that gamma rays Canberra), specified as having a relative efficiency of 
undergo in matter; its inelastic scattering results in a 50.9% to a 3 inch by 3 inch NaI(TI) detector at 1.33 
decrease in energy of a gamma-ray photon, called the MeV. The components and dimensions of the HPGe 
Compton effect. detector were taken from manufacturer-provided 
In the Compton-suppression approach the addition of documents. A sketch of the HPGe detector, is shown 
a secondary outer detector to the normally employed in Fig. 1 and an X-ray radiograph of the detector is 
spectroscopy inner detector allows for the detection shown in Fig. 2. The reverse-electrode HPGe detector, 
of Compton-scattered photons which emerge from which acts as the primary spectrometer, is surrounded 
the inner detector. Anti-coincident circuitry allows by two NaI(TI) detectors in the form of an annulus and 
these Compton-scattered events to be rejected from plug. The plug is positioned above the inner detector 
the measured spectrum thereby greatly improving adjacent to the annulus. The detector annulus is further 
the ability to identify gamma-ray peaks which would contained in a thin aluminium holder with an inner and 
otherwise be hidden behind the Compton continuum. outer radius of 41.25 mm and 140.5 mm, respectively. 
The International Atomic Energy Agency and many The full length of the surrounding annulus is 162.5 mm. 
practitioners have identified that the calibration of The entire suppression system is placed in a graded 
Compton-suppressed gamma-ray spectrometers for the lead case shield (w115 mm thick) with an inner copper 
various sample matrices and measurement geometries and tin lining (each w1.5 mm thick) to protect against 
used for environmental samples is complicated, time environmental radiation (e.g. cosmic rays, building 
consuming and costly [1]. materials radiation). 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 101
New technologies for  
national security
Improving low-level gamma spectrometric measurements to study contamination in environmental samples 
Figure 1 Figure 2
X-ray radiograph taken of the HPGe detector to verify 
Schematic illustration of the HPGe detector not drawn to scale. the geometric structure.
Simulation of detection processes The calibration
The Compton-suppressed HPGe detector system The detection efficiencies for the standard source 
as described was modelled using the Monte Carlo sample, RF929, were calculated with Monte Carlo 
simulation package Geant4 (version 9.4) [3]. The simulations for the suppressed and unsuppressed 
Geant4 Low Energy Electromagnetic Physics processes modes of operation and compared to the experimental 
based on the Livermore libraries, valid for energies efficiencies (see Fig. 3 for the suppressed mode 
of 250 eV-100 GeV, were used to model the photon data). The experimental and the simulated values 
interactions within the detector. The physics processes agree relatively well for high energies but deviate at 
activated included Compton scattering, Rayleigh lower energies. Low-energy photons would be more 
scattering, pair production and the photoelectric effect susceptible to absorption in the inactive detector 
for photons. Bremsstrahlung and ionisation processes components and sample. If these components are 
for secondary particles were also activated. The not correctly modelled, it can affect the calculated 
gamma-emitting radionuclides were generated using the efficiencies. The summation effects within the  
radioactive-decay module [4], which allows the user to HPGe detector seem to be mostly well accounted  
generate all possible decay components emitted for a for by the Geant4 radioactive-decay models for the  
particular radionuclide. unsuppressed mode.
For comparison of the simulated results, the detector The simulations show that the full energy peak efficiency 
system energy calibration was conducted using a in the suppressed detector mode is radionuclide 
traceable multi-nuclide standard source (QSA Global dependent. This is largely due to the coincidence 
RF929), which covers a gamma-ray energy range of 60 detection of two different photons from the same source, 
to 2000 keV. The standard sample configuration used in a time frame shorter than the timing resolution of 
was a 65 mm diameter plastic petri-dish containing the detector system. In this case, an unscattered 
the compacted soil sample, positioned directly on the photon may be falsely labelled as a scattered photon 
detector end-cap. and discarded. Some radionuclides are associated 
with summation effects in the suppression system and 
may be better evaluated in the unsuppressed mode of 
operation or with validated simulation efficiencies.
102 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Improving low-level gamma spectrometric measurements to study contamination in environmental samples 
Figure 3
Simulated and experimental full energy peak efficiencies as a function of radionuclide gamma-ray energy, for the detector system in the suppressed mode.
Our model References
[1]  Hult, M., Low-level gamma-ray spectrometry using Ge-detectors, Metrologia 44 
The model developed can assist environmental (S87) (2007).
scientists with the measurement of very low [2]  Knoll, G.F., Radiation Detection and Measurement, third ed. John Wiley and 
Sons Inc. (1999).
concentrations of radionuclides in the environment via 
an improved tool to perform measurements on a large [3]  Agostinelli, S., et al., Geant3 a simulation toolkit, Nucl. Instrum. Methods A. 506, 250. (2003).
variety of sample matrices and geometries. The model 
[4]  Truscott, P., et al., Development of a spacecraft radiation shielding and effects 
reduces the need for complicated, time consuming toolkit based on Geant4, Proc. Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics 
and costly manufacture of radionuclide calibration A123. (2000).
samples as well as providing important insights into the 
measurement process for particular sample types.
Acknowledgements
This work was carried out at ANSTO as part of the IAEA 
CRP entitled “Benchmarking calibration for low-level 
gamma spectrometric measurements of environmental 
samples” (IAEA-CRP1471-01).
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 103
New technologies for  
national security
David Boardman, Alison Flynn and Mark 
Reinhard are helping Australia meet its 
international requirements for radiation 
screening.
104 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Improving the identification of radiological and 
nuclear materials
David Boardman, Alison Flynn, Mark Reinhard
ANSTO
The illicit trafficking of radiological and nuclear material is a major concern for the international 
community. In the near future the United States will require all trade partners to perform passive 
radiation screening on 100% of cargo at the country of origin. However, the high false or nuisance 
alarm rates of current radiation detection systems negatively impact the flow of legitimate trade 
through the ports. Furthermore, the potential failure to detect the presence of illicit radioactive 
material is of even greater concern. Our research has led to the development and evaluation of 
a new technology in the form of identification algorithms that address these issues and maintains 
a high true positive alarm rate whilst minimising the false positive alarm rate. This research will 
contribute directly to national and international security.
Evaluations of commercially available radiation portal between one source and all other sources in a training 
monitors for detecting radioactivity have demonstrated data library. Each of these loading coefficients are 
a high rate of false alarm [1, 2]. This is mainly due subsequently used to project (or transform) the unknown 
to short measurement acquisition times required for measured spectra.
broader security applications. The small detector Fig. 2 illustrates the projection of various gamma-ray 
volumes imposed by cost restraints can also limit spectra by the loading coefficients for 137Cs and 133Ba. If 
the statistical quality of the measured gamma-ray a particular source is present then it is separated from 
spectra. Fig. 1 shows an example of the low statistic all the other sources along its corresponding loading-
sodium iodide spectra that have been obtained from a coefficient axis. All the other sources, which do not 
handheld radionuclide identifier. Traditional radionuclide contain 137Cs or 133Ba, tend to cluster around a single 
identification software based on peak search algorithms point. The standard deviation in the cluster distribution 
is unable to detect the presence of 137Cs, due to the low varies as the inverse square-root of the mean gross-
number of counts in the 137Cs peak at 662 keV. counts, so the source separation becomes more 
pronounced as the number of counts increase. 
Using a special computation method: FLDA 
algorithm Performance validation
Fisher Linear Discriminant Analysis (FLDA) is The North American standard (ANSI N42.34) for 
a multivariate statistical analysis technique that handheld radionuclide identifiers requires that each 
has typically been used as a classification and/ radionuclide must be identified in 8 out of 10 trials in a 
or dimensionality-reduction technique and is used minimum of 120 s for a dose rate of 0.5 µSv/h [3]. The 
in pattern recognition. The dimensionality reduction validation of the algorithm performance, against these 
properties of FLDA mean that the original data with 512 requirements, has been done with experimental and 
energy bins (variables) can be represented in a new semi-empirical synthetic spectra. Table 1 shows the 
single variable (i.e. reducing 512 dimensions down to identification performance for 100 spectra of each of the 
1). FLDA can generate loading coefficients (weighting given radionuclides. The analysed spectra were for a  
factors) that maximise the separation between user- 10 s acquisition time of a radionuclide dose rate of  
defined classes. For our work, a multiple two class FLDA 0.05 µSv/h in the presence of a 0.1 µSv/h background. 
approach was used in order to generate the energy- For the threat radionuclides, the identification 
bin weighting factors that maximise the separation performance typically meets the ANSI N42.34 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 105
New technologies for  
national security
Improving the identification of radiological and nuclear materials
Figure 1
A typical low count 137Cs spectrum acquired by a NaI detection system. The red highlighted region shows where the 137Cs peak occurs.
requirements for a dose rate and acquisition time that References
are an order of magnitude lower. There were also no [1]  J. M. Blackadar, S. E. Garner, J. A. Bounds, W. H. Casson, and D. J. Mercer, 
false alarms in the analysed spectra. “Evaluation of Commercial Detectors,” Los Alamos National Laboratory 2003.
The results presented are for a NaI detector, however [2]  L. Pibida, M. Unterweger, and L. R. Karam, “Evaluation of handheld radionuclide identifiers,” Journal of Research of the National Institute of 
the FLDA algorithm performance has shown an Standards and Technology, vol. 109, pp. 451-456, 2004.
improved identification performance for lanthanum [3]  ANSI, “American National Standard Perofrmance Criteria for Hand-Held 
bromide and high-purity germanium detectors that have Instruments for the Detection and Identification of Radionuclides,” vol. N42.34, 
an improved energy resolution. The FLDA algorithm 2006.
has shown high potential for the accurate identification 
of threat radionuclides which is maintained for count 
starved spectra. The algorithm could be used in border 
monitoring applications that require a high sensitivity to 
threats, but also require low false and nuisance alarm 
rates which will maintain the flow of commerce at ports 
of entry.
106 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Improving the identification of radiological and nuclear materials
Figure 2
The projection of various gamma-ray spectra by the loading coefficients for 137Cs and 133Ba. If a particular source is present then it is separated from all 
the other sources along its corresponding loading-coefficient axis. All the other sources, which do not contain 137Cs or 133Ba, tend to cluster around a 
single point. 
Table 1
Dose rate (μSv/h) 241Am 133Ba 57Co 60Co 137Cs DU HEU 40K 237Np 226Ra 90Sr 232Th
0.05 100 100 100 100 100 96 100 100 100 26 100 0
The true positive identification results for 0.05 mSv/h and an acquisition time of 10 s. No false positive alarms were recorded.
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 107
New technologies for  
national security
aAnNdS fiTgOu fraecst s2 011
108 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
ANSTO facts and figures 2011
Financial Statement ($AUD’000)    
2011 Research 2011 Total ANSTO
Expenditure
Operations 57,809 75% 235,688 76%
Investments 19,600 25% 74,979 24%
Total 77,409 100% 310,667 100%
Exp according to source of income
Federal Govt. funding 70,142 91% 240,451 77%
Third Party 7,267 9% 70,216 23%
Third Party revenue
Private Industry 5,249 72% 67,849 97%
Grants #1 2,018 28% 2,367 3%
Total 7,267 100% 70,216 100%
#1 Includes grants from Government, Universities and CRCs
    
 The total e xpenditur e by ANS TO for the calendar ANSTO employees
year 2011 was AUD $310.7 million. This represents 
a ~5% increase from the previous year. Of this total At the end of 2011, ANSTO had 1,140 full time 
amount, AUD $77.4 million or 24.9% was utilised in equivalent employees of whom 27.9% were women. 
scientific research. Federal Government (block) funding The chart below shows ANSTO’s continued reliance on 
represented 91% of this revenue and 9% came from Technical and Engineering Staff (53.5%) for a successful 
third parties. These third parties include significant user-based research facility.
private investment (72%) while the rest came through 
grants and Government, Universities and Cooperative 
Research Centres (CRCs).
ANSTO employment categories 100 5
90 10
Technical & Engineering Services 53.5%
Research 22.0%
Administration 19.0% 15
Employment Programs 5.4%
80 20
40
25
70 30
60
60 40
50
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 109
ANSTO facts and figures 2011
User facilities n Cementitious Gel: The Missing Link in 
Understanding the Ageing of Built Infrastructure 
In 2011,the OPAL beam lines and the two accelerators (Monash University and National University of 
(ANTARES and STAR) attracted a total of over 500 Singapore).
users with more than 1570 visits. These users came 
from more than 95 institutions in over 25 countries. ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 
(LIEF) Grants
Invention Disclosures
n A State-of-the-art Magnetic Property Measurement 
Facility for the Development of Advanced Materials 
In 2011, there were 4 ‘invention disclosures’ to IP and Biomedical Technologies in the Sydney Basin 
Australia for the purposes of securing provisional (University of NSW, University of Sydney, University 
patents. of Wollongong, University of Western Sydney)
n Next Generation of Sarcophagines/ Cryptates for n Automated preparative gas chromatograph for 
Imaging and Therapy isolating unique and important organic components 
for structural identification (Curtin University and 
n Filling devices: Systems and methods for UWA)
transferring hazardous waste material into a sealable 
container n An Australian fluid-inclusion facility for climate-
change science (University of Melbourne and 
n Modularized process flow facility plan for storing UNSW)
hazardous waste material 
n An aberration-corrected analytical Transmission 
n Filling container and method for storing hazardous Electron Microscope for nanoscale characterisation 
waste material. of materials (UoW, Blue Scope Steel, Deakin 
University, University of Newcastle, DMTC).
Awards
NHMRC Grants
n Ms Leena Burgess – 1st Prize for presentation at 
2011 Inorganic Chemistry (IC11) RACI meeting in n Improving the use of chemotherapy (University of 
Perth Sydney)
n Mr Paris Constantine – elected as a Fellow of the n Mephedrone (“Meow”, 4-Methylmethcathinone): 
Institute of Engineers, Australia examining the effects of a novel “party drug” on brain 
and behaviour (University of Sydney).
n  Institute of Materials Engineering – WTIA Company 
of the Year 2010 (Welding Technology Institute of CSIRO – Science and Industry Endowment Fund 
Australia awarded in 2011) (SIEF)
n Dr Robert Robinson – elected as vice-president of n Solving the Energy Waste Roadblock: Addressing 
the Executive to the Australian Institute of Physics one of the foremost challenges for reducing 
greenhouse gas emissions on a national and 
n Mr Michael Saleh - Industry Partnership Award by international scale, namely, the development of 
DMTC (Defence Materials Technology Centre) new materials and processes for the capture and 
utilisation of carbon dioxide.(University of Sydney).
n Ms Jessica Veliscek Carolan – United Uranium 
Scholarship recipient. 2011 National Science Week (DIISR)
Grants awarded in which ANSTO n Science - Fact or Fiction.
collaborates
US - National Science Foundation (NSF)
ARC Discovery Grants
n East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes (EAPSI) 
n Diffusion – the key to performance in organic fellowship program (Australian Academy of Science).
optoelectronic devices (University of Queensland)
110 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Partnerships Partnerships and collaborations
Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) and their As reflected by the research presented in Research 
equivalents are an integral part of the scientific research Selections, collaboration is vital to productive and 
landscape in Australia today. From their inception, innovative science. Cooperation among the scientific 
ANSTO has been involved in these centres, and our community enables research institutions to combine and 
current involvements are described below. thus perform beyond individual capabilities and provide 
greater outcomes for society.
CRC for Infrastructure and Engineering Asset  
Management (CIEAM) ANSTO continues to pursue collaborative agreements 
and memoranda of understanding with leading science 
n  Sustainability and Organisational Performance and research institutions within Australia and around the
  Integration and Operability world. The Australian Institute for Nuclear Science and n
Engineering (AINSE) is a key facilitator of collaboration 
  Capability Optimisation between ANSTO and Australasian universities. Throughn
AINSE, university scientists and researchers can access 
n  Structural Integrity ANSTO’s world class facilities, supporting high quality 
research, education and training in nuclear science and
CRC for Biomedical Imaging and Development engineering.
n   Protein Biosynthetic Pathway Targeting
Since the beginning of 2011, ANSTO has broadened 
n  Neuroreceptor Ligand Targeting Australia’s scientific reach, entering into formal co-
operation with national and international research 
n  Development of Novel Receptor Based  organisations including:
Radio-Pharma
n National Measurement Institute, 22 March 2011
n  Apoptotic Pathway Targeting
n Universiti Teknologi Mara, Malaysia, 20 May 2011
n  Development of Synthesis Mods for Tracer Product
n
   University of Sydney, 7 September 2011n General
n
  CRC Revenue and Contributions  Monash University, 28 September 2011n
n
  Evaluation and Characterisation of Detector  European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) n
Materials Australia, 29 November 2011
CRC for Polymers III
n  Functional Polymers for Photovoltaic devices
n  Degradable Polymer films
Defence Materials Technology Centre (DMTC) - 
non CRC Partnership
n  Maritime Platforms Programme
n  Armour Applications Programme
n  Personnel Survivability Programme
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 111
ANSTO facts and figures 2011
Schools, workshops, reviews 
Schools n Italian-Australian Archaeology and Cultural 
Heritage Workshop: New Scientific Techniques in 
n Science in the Suburbs at ANSTO, 10 February Archaeology, Palaeo-Anthropology and Cultural 
2011 (joint event between ANSTO and the Australian Heritage 14-17 March 2011, Rydges Hotel, Cronulla, 
Museum – 100 students attended) Sydney.
n ANSTO Science: ‘Fact or Fiction’, 20 July 2011, held n Synchrotron and Neutron New Users Symposium, 8 
at UTS July 2011 at UNSW. 
n 5th Annual Neutron School for PhD students n 2nd Australian Cyclotron Users’ Workshop 15 July 
and Post-Doctoral Fellows, 15-19 August, 2011, Darwin, (ANZSNM conference).
2011 (31 participants) to learn about and 
perform experiments, using ANSTO’s neutron n ANSTO-BMRI Molecular Imaging Workshop 24 
instrumentation. August 2011, University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind 
Research Institute (BMRI), Sydney.(pictured 2)
n ‘Marine Benchmark Study on the Possible Impact 
of the Fukushima Radioactive Releases in the Asia- n FNCA Workshop on Neutron Activation Analysis 
Pacific Region’. The project is an IAEA Technical Project, 21 – 24 November 2011, ANSTO.
Cooperation (TC) activity evaluating the extent and 
possible impact of the releases of radioactivity from Reviews
the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident 
in March 2011 into the marine environment in the n Bragg Institute – Advisory Committee Meeting. This 
Asia-Pacific region through the RCA. First workshop committee provides strategic advice to the Institute 
29 August-2 September, 2011, in Cronulla. 33 under its chair, Professor Peter Colman (Walter and 
participants from 20 Asia-Pacific nations. Eliza Hall Institute) 11-12 April 2011.
n Foundations in PET/CT School for International n Institute of Environmental Research (IER) 
Users. 5-16 September 2011 (10 participants). Review. The review of this Institute considered 
its performance and facility, quality and impact of 
n 4th Asia-Oceania Neutron Scattering Association its research, project structure, its overall strategic 
(AONSA) Neutron School 12-17 November 2011, direction, governance and safety. It took place in 
ANSTO, Sydney (due to unavailability of the May 2011 and the review panel included, Professor 
neutron-scattering facilities in Tokai, Japan, following Jim Williams (ANU), Professor Mary Edwards 
the disaster of the Great East Japan Earthquake in (University of Southampton,UK), Professor A. Tim 
March 2011). Jull (University of Arizona, Tucson) Dr Greg Storr 
(ANSTO, Nuclear Operations) .
n Individual professional development days for 
secondary teachers: 74 teachers attended the 3 n Bragg Institute - Beam Instrument Advisory Group 
day course. Overview of all areas of the science met on 28-29 July to review the major capital 
curriculum including Chemistry, Physics, Biology projects. The committee was chaired by Dr Dan 
as well as Earth & Environmental Science that are Neumann (NIST Center for Neutron Research, 
covered (at a HSC level). USA).
n 47 ANSTO scientists were lecturing at Universities n A Final Progress Review Meeting for the RCA 
and higher education establishments across New project on ‘Assessment of Trends in Freshwater 
South Wales and Australia. Quality Using Environmental Isotopes and Chemical 
Techniques for Improved Resource Management’. 
Workshops IAEA Technical Cooperation (TC) activity promoting 
the utilisation of isotope techniques for improving 
n ANSTO-SINAP workshop Shanghai Institute of freshwater resources management in the region 
Applied Physics (SINAP), 17-18 February 2011, was held 11-14 November, 2011, at ANSTO. 18 
Shanghai, China. participants from 14 Asia-Pacific nations. 
112 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
4th Asia-Oceania Neutron Scattering Association (AONSA) Neutron School 
Italian-Australian Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Workshop
ANSTO-BMRI Molecular Imaging Workshop
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 113
ANSTO facts and figures 2011
ANSTO Executive Team
Mr Peter Arambatzis – Chief Financial Officer 
Mr Michael Beckett – General Manager, Support Services & Chief Information Officer
Mr Robert (Rob) Blissett – General Manager, Human Resources
Mr Douglas (Doug) Cubbin – General Manager, Business Development and Commercialisation
Professor John Dodson – Head, Institute of Environmental Research
Professor Lyndon Edwards – Head, Institute of Materials Engineering
Dr Marie Claude Gregoire – Head, ANSTO LifeSciences
Mr Hefin Griffiths – General Manager, Safety, Environmental & Radiological Assurance
Mr Shaun Jenkinson – General Manager, Commercial Operations
Mr Paul Jones – General Manager, Security and Safeguards
Ms Nadia Levin – General Manager, Government, International and External Affairs
Mr Con Lyras – General Manager, Engineering and Capital Programs
Dr Adi Paterson – ANSTO CEO
Dr Robert (Rob) Robinson – Head, Bragg Institute
Dr Greg Storr – General Manager, Nuclear Operations 
By Invitation:
Professor Richard Banati – Distinguished Research Fellow and ANSTO LifeSciences 
Ms Stephanie Cole – Legal Counsel
Mr Kobus Naude – Senior Manager, Strategy and Planning
Pictured from left to right (back row) Peter Arambatzis, Kobus Naude, Stephanie Cole, Michael Beckett, Rob Blissett, Con Lyras, Rob Robinson, John 
Dodson, Hefin Griffiths, Paul Jones, Richard Banati.
(front row), Shaun Jenkinson, Marie-Claude Gregoire, Adi Paterson, Greg Storr, Nadia Levin.
Not present: Doug Cubbin, Lyndon Edwards.
114 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and 
Engineering (AINSE) - facts and figures 2011
Background new fellow was appointed. Dr Alison Blyth will join 
Curtin University of Technology and work with ANSTO’s 
The Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Institute of Environmental Research on a project entitled 
Engineering (AINSE) provides a platform for training Molecular, stable isotopic and radiocarbon analyses of 
and cooperation in the nuclear science and engineering organic matter preserved in terrestrial records. 
fields. Its membership comprises 46 Australian and Dr Lizhong He concluded his fellowship at the end of 
New Zealand universities and science organisations, the 2011 when he was appointed to a senior lectureship 
including ANSTO, making it one of few scientific in the School of Chemical Engineering at Monash 
institutions with such a wide membership. AINSE University.
facilitates access to ANSTO’s and other associated At the end of 2011, the total number of current AINSE 
nuclear capabilities through research grants, fellowships Research Fellows was seven.
and support for conferences and workshops.
Schools, Workshops and Reviews 
Research Awards
The following events were run and/or supported by 
Access to ANSTO’s nuclear science and technology is AINSE. Other events were supported in a minor way 
the primary purpose of these awards. They require close and are not reported here.
cooperation between ANSTO research scientists and 
university-based researchers and their students. They 
involve a substantial use of both the accelerators and • 17th AINSE Conference on Nuclear and 
the OPAL research reactor. Complementary Techniques of Analysis & 10th 
In 2011, 234 projects were supported and they had a Vacuum Society of Australia Congress
total value of $1,850,319. • Quaternary Techniques Short-course
• Synchrotron and Neutron New Users Symposium
International Travel Awards and 
Scholarships • ANSTO Breakfast Briefing
• Bragg Institute IAT and PAC meetings
AINSE provided $94,523 for this purpose. Half of the 
• Powder Diffraction at Large Scale Facilities 
funding went to students presenting AINSE supported 
Workshop
research at an international meeting, and the other half 
primarily supported travel for researchers conducting • 4th Asia Oceania Neutron Scattering Association 
research at ISIS, UK. Neutron School
• 1st Asia Oceania Conference on Neutron Scattering
Postgraduate Research Awards • Australian Synchrotron Users Meeting
In 2011, 11 of the 72 AINSE postgraduate research • OZ-INTIMATE 2011
award holders received an award for the first time  In 2011, Professor Robert Norris conducted a review 
and 12 doctoral theses were received. A further  of the AINSE Research Fellowships program. His 
71 theses, where students conducted experiments recommendation that the program continue was 
under a research award in the name of their supervisor, accompanied by more than 30 recommendations on 
are recorded in the publications list. The AINSE suggestions for improvements.
postgraduate research award holders accessed the 
facilities for a total of 1097 days. In addition, another  
135 students gained access to the facilities via awards Publications
held by their supervisors, for a total of 1252 days.
During 2011, notification was given of 602 publications 
that reported the results from AINSE supported research 
Research Fellowships projects. Of these, 361 are articles in refereed journals 
and 167 include an ANSTO co-author. The remainder 
These are three-year fellowships which can be extended are conference papers/abstracts (148), books/book 
to a total of five years where appropriate. In 2011, one chapters (10) and theses (83).
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 115
 
ANSTO publications 2011
ANSTO publications 2011
 Page
Refereed Journal Publications (293) 116
Book Chapters (3), Technical Reports (5), Theses (1), Editing of Special Journal Issues (1) 128
Published Conference Proceedings (65) 129   
Refereed Journal Publications
Abaffy, N.,  McCulloch, D. G.,  Partridge, Atahan, P., Dodson, J., Li, X. Q., Zhou, Batlle, J.V. I., Vives-Lynch, S., 
J. G., Evans, P. J. and Triani, G., X. Y., Hu, S. M., Chen, L., Bertuch, Beaugelin-Seiller, K., Beresford, 
Engineering titanium and aluminium F., Grice. K., Early Neolithic diets at N., Hosseini, A., Kamboj, S., Yu, 
oxide composites using atomic layer Baijia, Wei River valley, China: stable C., Copplestone, D., Newsome, L., 
deposition. Journal of Applied Physics, carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of Horyna, J., Johansen, M., Keum, D. 
110(12), 123514-123518. (2011). human and faunal remains. Journal of K., Kurosawa, N., The estimation of 
Archaeological Science, 38(7), 2811- absorbed dose rates for non-human 
Ahmed, R., Faisal, N.H., Paradowska, 2817. (2011). biota: an extended inter-comparison. 
AM., Fitzpatrick, M.E. and Khor, K.A., Radiation and Environmental 
Neutron diffraction residual strain Avdeev, M., Thorogood, G.J., Carter, Biophysics, 50(2), 231-251. (2011). 
measurements in nanostructured M.L., Kennedy, B.J., Ting, J., Singh, 
hydroxyapatite coatings for orthopaedic D.J., Wallwork, K.S., Antiferromagnetism Beecham, C.J., Boag, S., Frost, 
implants. Journal of the Mechanical in a Technetium Oxide Structure C.D., McKetterick, T.J., Stewart, J.R., 
Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 4(8), of CaTcO3. Journal of the American Andersen, K.H., Bentley, P.M., Jullien, 
2043-2054 (2011). Chemical Society, 133(6), 1654-1657. D., 3He polarization for ISIS TS2 phase 
(2011). I instruments. Physica B-Condensed 
Andersen, K.H., Bentley, P.M., Cussen, Matter, 406(12), 2429-2432. (2011).
L.D., The ABC of powder diffractometer Bacon, D.H., Edwards, L., Moffatt, J.E. 
detector coverage. Journal of Applied and Fitzpatrick M.E., Synchrotron X-ray Begum, B. A., Bisws, S. K., Pandit, G. 
Crystallography, 44(Part 2), 295-298. diffraction measurements of internal I., Saradhi, I. V., Waheed, S., Siddique, 
(2011). stresses during loading of steel-based N., Seneviratn, M. C. S., Cohen, D. 
metal matrix composites reinforced D., Markwitz, A. and Hopke, P. K., 
Anderson, K.M., Goeta, A.E., Martin, with TiB2 particles. Acta Matrialia, 59(9), Long Range Transport of Soil Dust 
J.E., Mason, S.A., McIntyre, G.J., 3373-3383. (2011). and Smoke Pollution in the South 
Sansam, B.C.R., Wilkinson, C., Steed, Asian Region. Atmospheric Pollution 
J.W., Dominance of Charge-Assisted Baczmanski, A., Le Joncour, L., Research, 2(2), 151-157. (2011). 
Hydrogen Bonding on Short Contacts Panicaud, B., Francois, M., Braham, 
and Structures that Crystallize with  C., Paradowska, A.M., Wronski, S., Bentley, P.M., Fouquet, P., Bohm, M., 
Z ‘ > 1. Crystal Growth  and Design, Amara, S. and Chiron, R., Neutron Sutton, I., Dewhurst, C.D., Andersen, 
11(11), 4904-4919. (2011). time-of-flight diffraction used to study K.H., Global optimization of an entire 
aged duplex stainless steel at small and neutron guide hall. Journal of Applied 
Arrachart G., Karatchevtseva, I., large deformation until sample fracture, Crystallography, 44(3), 483-488. (2011). 
Heinmann, A., Cassidy, D. and Triani, Journal of Applied Crystallography, 
G., Synthethis and characterisation 44(5), 966-982 (2011). Bhatia, V. K., Kealley, C. S., Prior, M. J., 
of nanocomposite materials prepared Cortie, M. B., Martensite destabilization 
by dispersion of functional TiO2 Bartkowiak, M., Kearley, G. J., Yethiraj, in Au7Cu5Al4 shape-memory alloy. Acta 
nanoparticles in PMMA matrix. Journal M., and Mulders, A. M., Symmetry Materialia, 59(5), 2193-2200. (2011). 
of Materials Chemistry, 21(34), 13040- of ferroelectric phase of SrTi18O3 
13036. (2011). determined by ab initio calculations. Bhattacharyya, D., Mara, N.A., 
Physical Review B, 83(6), 064102. Dickerson, P., Hoagland, R.G.  and 
Atahan, P., Dodson, J., Li, X. Q., Zhou, (2011). Misra, A., Compressive flow behaviour 
X. Y., Hu, S. M., Bertuch, F., Sun, N., of Al-TiN multilayes at nanometer scale 
Subsistence and the isotopic signature layer thickness. Acta Materialia, 59(10), 
of herding in the Bronze Age Hexi 3804-3816. (2011).
Corridor, NW Gansu, China. Journal of 
Archaeological Science, 38(7), 1747-
1753. (2011). 
116 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
 
Bilus, A. N., McCulloch, D. G.,  Boland, D.D., Collins, R.N., Payne, Chague-Goff, C., Schneider, J.L., Goff, 
Partridge, J. G., Evans, P. J.  and Triani, T.E. and Waite, T.D., The inhibitory J.R., Dominey-Howes, D., Strotz, L., 
G., Engineering titanium and aluminium effect of silicate on the Fe(II)-catalysed Expanding the proxy toolkit to help 
oxide composites using atomic layer crystallisation of Fe(III) minerals and the identify past events - Lessons from the 
deposition. Journal of Applied Physics, associated sequestration of uranium. 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the 
110(12), Article No. 123514. (2011). Environmental Science and Technology, 2009 South Pacific Tsunami. Earth-
45(4), 1327-1333. (2011). Science Reviews, 107(SI. 1-2), 107-122. 
Bird, D.K., Chagué-Goff, C.  and Gero, (2011). 
A. Human response to extreme events: Bourdier, T., Greguric, I., Roselt, P., 
A review of three post-tsunami disaster Jackson, T., Faragalla, J., Katsifis, A., Chambers, S., Williams, A.G., 
case studies. Australian Geographer, 42 Fully-automated one-pot radiosynthesis Zahorowski, W., Griffiths, A., Crawford, 
(3), 225-239. (2011). of O-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-L-tyrosine on J., Separating remote fetch and local 
the TracerLab FXFN module. Nuclear mixing influences on vertical radon 
Blazek, J., Gilbert, E.P., Application of Medicine and Biology, 38(5), 645-651. measurements in the lower atmosphere. 
small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering (2011). Tellus Series B Chemical and Physical 
techniques to the characterisation of Meteorology, 63(5), 843-859. (2011). 
starch structure: A review. Carbohydrate Bourdier, T., Shepherd, R., Berghofer, P., 
Polymers, 85(2), 281-293. (2011). Jackson, T., Fookes, C. J., Denoyer, D., Chan, R. T. H., Garvey, C. J., Marcal, 
Dorow, D., Greguric, I., Gregoire, M-C., H., Russell, R. A., Manipulation of 
Blazek, J., Gilbert, E.P., Copeland, L., Hicks, R. J., Katsifis, A., Radiosynthesis Polyhydroxybutyrate Properties through 
Effects of monoglycerides on pasting and biological evaluation of L and D Blending with Ethyl-Cellulose for a 
properties of wheat starch after repeated S-(3-[18F]Fluoropropyl)-homocysteine Composite Biomaterial. International 
heating and cooling. Journal of Cereal for tumor imaging using positron Journal of Polymer Science, 2011(2011), 
Science, 54(1), 151-159. (2011). emission tomography. Journal of Art. No. 651549. (2011). 
Medicinal Chemistry, 54(6), 1860-1870.
Bloch, E.D., Murray, L.J., Queen, W.L., (2011). Chan, R. T. H., Marcal, H., Russell, 
Chavan, S., Maximoff, S.N., Bigi, J.P., R. A., Holden, P. J., Foster, L. J. R., 
Krishna, R., Peterson, V.K., Grandjean, Bowman, D. M.J.S., Prior, L. D., Tng, Application of Polyethylene Glycol to 
F., Long, G.J., Smit, B., Bordiga, S., D., Hua, Q., Brodribb, T. J., Continental- Promote Cellular Biocompatibility of 
Brown, C.M., Long, J.R., Selective scale climate drivers of growth ring Polyhydroxybutyrate Films. International 
Binding of O(2) over N(2) in a Redox- variability in an Australian conifer. Journal of Polymer Science, 2011(2011), 
Active Metal-Organic Framework with Trees – Structure and Function. 25(5), Art. No. 473045. (2011).
Open Iron(II) Coordination Sites. Journal 925-934.
of the American Chemical Society, Chan, W.K., Haverkate, L.A., Borghols, 
133(37), 14814-14822. (2011). Callaghan, M.D., Humphries, S.R., W.J.H., Wagemaker, M., Picken, S.J., 
Law, M., Ho, M., Yan, K., Yeung, van Eck, E.R.H., Kentgens, A.P.M., 
Boeer, A.B., Barra, A.L., Chibotaru, W.Y., Specimen-size dependency and Johnson, M.R., Kearley, G.J., Mulder, 
L.F., Collison, D., McInnes, E.J.L., modelling of energy evolution during F.M., Direct View on Nanoionic Proton 
Mole, R.A., Simeoni, G.G., Timco, G.A., high-temperature low-cycle fatigue of Mobility.Advanced Functional Materials, 
Ungur, L., Unruh, T., Winpenny, R.E.P., A pressure vessel steel. Scripta Materialia, 21(8), 1364-1374. (2011).
Spectroscopic Investigation of Magnetic 65(4), 308-311. (2011). 
Exchange Between Highly Anisotropic Chan, Y. C., Hawas, O., Hawker, D., 
Spin Centers. Angewandte Chemie- Carolan, J. V., Hughes, C.E. and Vowles, P., Cohen, D. D., Stelcer, E., 
International Edition, 50(17), 4007-4011. Hoffman, E.L., Dose Assessment Simpson, R., Golding, G., Christensen, 
(2011). for marine biota and humans from E., Using multiple type composition 
discharge of 131I to the marine data and wind data in PMF analysis 
Boland, D. D., Collins, R. N., Payne, environment and uptake by algae to apportion and locate sources of air 
T. E.,  and Waite, T. D., Effect of in Sydney, Australia. Journal of pollutants. Atmospheric Environment, 
amorphous Fe(III) oxide transformation Environmental Radioactivity, 102(10), 45(2), 439-449. (2011). 
on the Fe(II)-mediated reduction of 953-963. (2011).  
U(VI). Environmental Science  and Chen, J., Katsifis, A., Hu, C., Huang, X. 
Technology, 45(4), 1327-1333. (2011). Cavaye, H., Shaw, P.E., Smith, A.R.G., F., Insulin decreases therapeutic efficacy 
Burn, P.L., Gentle, I.R., James, M., in colon cancer cell line HT29 via the 
Boldeman, J. W., Banati, R. Options for Lo, S.C., Meredith, P., Solid State activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway. 
a light ion facility for hadron therapy and Dendrimer Sensors: Effect of Dendrimer Current Drug Discovery Technologies, 
research. Journal and proceedings of Dimensionality on Detection and 8(2), 119-125. (2011).
the royal society of New South Wales, Sequestration of 2,4-Dinitrotoluene. 
144(441-442), 58-65. (2011). Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 
115(37), 18366-18371. (2011). 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 117
 
ANSTO publications 2011
Ciampi, S., James, M., Darwish, N., Collins, R. N., Saito, T., Aoyagi, N., Dalton, V. S., Zavitsanou, K., Rapid 
Luais, E., Guan, B., Harper, J.B., Payne, T. E., Kimura, T., and Waite, changes in D1 and D2 dopamine 
Gooding, J.J., Oxidative acetylenic T. D., Applications of Time-Resolved receptor binding in striatal subregions 
coupling reactions as a surface Laser Fluorescence Spectroscopy to after a single dose of phencyclidine. 
chemistry tool. Physical Chemistry the Environmental Biogeochemistry Clinical Psychopharmacology and 
Chemical Physics, 13(34), 15624- of Actinides. Journal of Environmental Neuroscience, 9(2), 67-72. (2011).
15632. (2011). Quality, 40(3), 731-741. (2011). 
Daly, H. L., Hall, M. D., Failes, T. W., 
Ciampi, S., James, M., Michaels, P., Comarmond, M. J., Payne, T. E., Zhang, M., Foran, G. J. and Hambley, 
Gooding, J.J., Tandem “Click” Reactions Harrison, J. J., Thiruvoth, S., Wong, T. W., Stabilization of Triam(m)
at Acetylene-Terminated Si(100) H. K., Aughterson, R. D., Lumpkin, inechloridoplatinum complexes by 
Monolayers. Langmuir, 27(11), 6940- G. R., Müller, K., Foerstendorf, H., oxidation to PtIV. Australian Journal of 
6949. (2011). Uranium sorption on various forms of Chemistry, 64(3), 273-278. (2011). 
titanium dioxide – influence of surface 
Clark, M.W., Harrison, J.J., and area, surface charge and impurities. Danilkin, S.A., Avdeev, M., Sakuma, 
Payne, T.E., The pH-dependence and Environmental Science and Technology, T., Macquart, R., Ling, C.D., Neutron 
reversibility of uranium and thorium 45(13), 5536-5542. (2011). diffraction study of diffuse scattering in 
binding on a modified bauxite refinery Cu2-d Se superionic compounds. Journal 
residue using isotopic exchange Cortie, D.L. and Lewis, R.A., Role of of Alloys and Compounds, 509(18), 
techniques. Journal of Colloid and vanguard counter-potential in terahertz 5460-5465. (2011). 
Interface Science, 356(2), 699-705. emission due to surface currents 
(2011). explicated by three-dimensional Danilkin, S.A., Avdeev, M., Sakuma, 
ensemble Monte Carlo simulation. T., Macquart, R., Ling, C.D., Rusina, 
Clements, R., Hester, J.R., Kennedy, Physical Review B, 84(15), Art. No. M., Izaola, Z., Neutron scattering study 
B.J., Ling, C.D., Stampfl, A.P.J., The 155328. (2011). of short-range correlations and ionic 
fluorite-pyrochlore transformation of diffusion in copper selenide. Ionics, 
Ho2-yNdyZr2O7. Journal of Solid State Cortie, M.B., Kealley, C.S., Bhatia, 17(1), 75-80. (2011). 
Chemistry, 84(8), 2108-2113. (2011). V., Thorogood, G.J., Elcombe, M. 
M. and Aveev, M., High temperature Darwish, T. A., Evans, R. A., James, M. 
Cohen, D. D., Stelcer, E., Garton, transformations of the Au7CU5AI4 shape and Hanley, T. L., Spiropyran-Amidine: A 
D., Crawford, J., Fine Particle memory alloy. Journal of Alloys and Molecular Canary for Visual Recognition 
Characterisation, Source Apportionment Compounds, 509(8), 3502-3508. (2011). of Carbon Dioxide Gas. Chemistry: A 
and Long Range Dust Transport into European Journal, 17(41), 11399-11404. 
the Sydney Basin: A long term study Crawford, J., Cohen, D.D., Zahorowski, (2011). 
between 1998 and 2009. Atmospheric W., Chambers, S., Stelcer, E., A new 
Pollution Research, 2(2), 182-189. method to combine IBA of fine aerosols Davis, M., Matmon, A., Fink, D., Ron, 
(2011). with Radon-222 to determine source H., Niederniann, S., Dating Pliocene 
characteristic. Nuclear Instruments and lacustrine sediments in the central 
Cohen, T. J., Nanson, G. C., Jansen, Methods In Physics Research Section Jordan Valley, Israel - Implications for 
J. D., Jones, B. G., Jacobs, Z., Treble, B-Beam Interactions With Materials And cosmogenic burial dating. Earth and 
P., et al. Continental aridification and Atoms, 269(19), 2041-2051. (2011). Planetary Science Letters, 305(3-4), 
the vanishing of Australia’s megalakes. 317-327. (2011).
Geology, 39(2), 167-170. (2011). Crow, L., Robertson, L., Bilheux, 
H., Fleenor, M., Iverson, E., Tong, Dearling, J. L. J., Voss, S. D., Dunning, 
Cole, J.M., Burgi, H.B., Mclntyre, G., X., Stoica, D., Lee, W.T., The CG1 P., Snay, E., Fahey, F., Smith, S. V., 
Distinction of disorder, classical and instrument development test station at et al., Imaging cancer using PET - the 
quantum vibrational contributions to the high flux isotope reactor. Nuclear effect of the bifunctional chelator on 
atomic mean-square amplitudes in Instruments and Methods in Physics the biodistribution of a 64Cu-labeled 
dielectric pentachloronitrobenzene. Research Section a-Accelerators antibody. Nuclear Medicine and Biology, 
Physical Review B, 83(22), Pages: Art. Spectrometers Detectors and 38(1), 29-38. (2011). 
No. 224202. (2011). Associated Equipment, ,634 (Suppl. 1), 
S71-S74. (2011). del Rio, M.S., Garcia-Romero, E., 
Colella, M., Parkinson, A., Evans, T., Suarez, M., da Silva, I., Fuentes-
Robertson, J. and Roux, C., The Effect Dalton, V. S., Long, L., Weickert, C. S., Montero, L. and Martinez-Criado, G., 
of Ionizing Gamma Radiation on Natural Zavitsanou, K., Paranoid schizophrenia Variability in sepiolite: Diffraction studies, 
and Synthetic Fibres and Its Implications is characterized by increased American Mineralogist, 96(10), 1443-
for the Forensic Examination of Fibre cannabinoid CB1 receptor binding 1454, (2011).
Evidence. Journal of Forensic Sciences, in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. 
56(3), 591-605. (2011). Neuropsychopharmacology, 36(8), 
1620-1630. (2011).
118 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
 
Deng, G.C., Pomjakushin, V., Petricek, Dutta, N.K., Truong, M.Y., Mayavan, Ford, S.J., Delamore, O.J., Evans, 
V., Pomjakushina, E., Kenzelmann, S., Choudhury, N.R., Elvin, C.M., Kim, J.S.O., McIntyre, G.J., Johnson, M.R. 
M., Conder, K., Structural evolution of M., Knott, R., Nairn, K.M., Hill, A.J., and Radosavljević E. I., Giant Deuteron 
one-dimensional spin-ladder compounds A Genetically Engineered Protein Migration During the Isosymmetric 
Sr14-xCaxCu24O41 with Ca doping and Responsive to Multiple Stimuli. Phase Transition in Deuterated 
related evidence of hole redistribution. Angewandte Chemie-International 3,5-Pyridinedicarboxylic Acid. Chemistry 
Physical Review B, 84(14), Art. No. Edition, 50(19), 4428-4431. (2011). - A European Journal, 17(52), 14942-
144111. (2011). 14951. (2011).
Edwards, A.J., Neutron Diffraction 
Deng, G.C., Radheep, D.M., - Recent Applications to Chemical Foreman, A. L., Phillips, L., Kanellis, 
Thiyagarajan, R., Pomjakushina, E., Structure Determination. Australian V. G., Hammoudeh, D., Naumann, 
Wang, S., Nikseresht, N., Arumugam, Journal of Chemistry, 64(7), 869-872. C., Wong, H., Chisari, R., Hibbert, 
S., Conder, K., High oxygen pressure (2011). D. B., Lee, G. S. H., Patra, R., Julli, 
single crystal growth of highly Ca-doped M., Chapman, J., Cooke, A. R., dos 
spin ladder compound Sr14-xCaxCu24O41 Etienne, S., Buckley, M., Paris, R., Remedios, C. G., A DNA-Based Assay 
(x > 12). Journal of Crystal Growth, Nandasena, A.K., Clark, K., Strotz, L., For Toxic Chemicals In Wastewater. 
327(1), 182-188. (2011). Chague-Goff, C., Goff, J., Richmond, B., Environmental Toxicology And 
The use of boulders for characterising Chemistry, 30 (8), 1810-1818. (2011).  
Denoyer, D., Potdevin, T., Roselt, P., past tsunamis: Lessons from the 2004 
Neels, O. C., Kirby, L., Greguric, I. Indian Ocean and 2009 South Pacific Freund, A.K., Rehm, C., Phase space 
et al., Improved detection of regional tsunamis. Earth-Science Reviews, optimisation of the USANS instrument 
melanoma metastasis using 18F-6- 107(1-2), 76-90. (2011). Kookaburra at the ANSTO OPAL 
Fluoro-N-[2-(Diethylamino)Ethyl] reactor. Nuclear Instruments and 
Pyridine-3-Carboxamide, a Melanin- Fischer M.J., Baldini L. M. A climate- Methods in Physics Research Section 
specific PET probe, by perilesional isotope regression model with a-Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors 
administration. Journal of Nuclear seasonally-varying and time-integrated and Associated Equipment, 634(Suppl. 
Medicine, 52(1), 115-122. (2011). relationships. Climate Dynamics, 37(11- 1), S81-S89. (2011). 
12), 2235-2251. (2011). 
Dikundwar, A. G., Venkateswarlu, C., Freund, A.K., Yu, D.H., Optimisation 
Piltz, R. O., Chandrasekaran, S., Row, Flores-Johnson, E. A. and Li, Q.M., and fabrication of a composite 
T. N. G., et al., Crystal structures of Experimental study of the indentation pyrolytic graphite monochromator for 
fluorinated aryl biscarbonates and a of sandwich panels with carbon fibre- the Pelican instrument at the ANSTO 
biscarbamate: a counterpoise between reinforced polymer face sheets and OPAL reactor. Nuclear Instruments and 
weak intermolecular interactions and polymeric foam core. Composites Part Methods in Physics Research Section 
molecular symmetry. Crystengcomm, B: Engineering, 42(5), 1212-1219. a-Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors 
13(5), 1531-1538. (2011). (2011). and Associated Equipment, 634(Suppl. 
1), S75-S80. (2011). 
Du, G.D., Sharma, N., Peterson, V.K., Flores-Johnson, E. A.and Li, Q.M., Low 
Kimpton, J.A., Jia, D.Z. and Guo, Z.P., velocity impact on polymeric foams. Friend, A. J., Ayoko, G. A., Stelcer, E. 
Br-Doped Li4Ti5O12 and Composite Journal of Cellular Plastics, 47(1), 45-63. and Cohen, D. Source apportionment of 
TiO2 Anodes for Li-ion Batteries: (2011). PM2.5 at two receptor sites in Brisbane, 
Synchrotron X-Ray and in situ Neutron Australia. Environmental Chemistry, 
Diffraction Studies. Advance Functional Flores-Johnson, E.A., Saleh, M., and 8(6), 569-580. (2011). 
Materials, 21(20), 3990-3997. (2011). Edwards, L., Ballistic performance of 
multi-layered metallic plates impacted by Fruchter, N., Matmon, A., Avni, Y., Fink, 
Duan, X. Y., Cheung, S. C. P., Yeoh, G. a 7.62-mm APM2 projectile. International D., Revealing sediment sources, mixing, 
H., Tu, J. Y., Krepper, E., and Lucas, D., Journal of Impact Engineering, 38(12), and transport during erosional crater 
Gas-liquid flows in medium and large 1022-1032. (2011). evolution in the hyperarid Negev Desert, 
vertical pipes. Chemical Engineering Israel. Geomorphology, 134(3-4), 363-
Science, 66(5), 872-883. (2011). Flores-Johnson, E.A., Vázquez- 377. (2011). 
Rodríguez, J.M., Herrera-Franco, P.J. 
Dunstan, M.T., Southon, P.D., Kepert, and González-Chi, P.I., Photoelastic Fuentes-Montero, L., Montero-Cabrera, 
C.J., Hester, J., Kimpton, J.A., Ling, evaluation of fiber surface-treatments M.E., Fuentes-Cobas, L., The software 
C.D., Phase diagram, chemical stability on the interfacial performance of a package ANAELU for X-ray diffraction 
and physical properties of the solid- polyester fiber/epoxy model composite. analysis using two-dimensional patterns. 
solution Ba4Nb2-xTaxO9. Journal of Solid Composites Part A: Applied Science Journal of Applied Crystallography, 
State Chemistry, 184(10), 2648-2654. and Manufacturing, 42 (8), 1017-1024. 44(Part 1), 241-246. (2011). 
(2011). (2011). 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 119
 
ANSTO publications 2011
Ganguly, S., Edwards, L. and Fitzpatrick, Gorjiara, T., Hill, R., Kuncic, Z., Bosi, S., Hackett, M.J., McQuillan, J.A., El-
M.E., Problems in using a comb Davies, J. B., Baldock, C., Radiological Assaad, F., Aitken, J.B., Levina, A., 
sample as a stress-free reference for characterization and water equivalency Cohen, D.D., Siegele, R., Carter, E.A., 
the determination of welding residual of genipin gel for x-ray and electron Grau, G.E., Hunt, N.H., Lay, P.A., 
stress by diffraction. Materials Science beam dosimetry. Physics in Medicine Chemical alterations to murine brain 
and Engineering: A, 528(3), 1226-1232. and Biology, 56(15), 4685-4699. (2011). tissue induced by formation fixation: 
(2011). implications for biospectroscopic 
Goto, K., Chagué-Goff, C., Fujino, imaging and mapping studies of disease 
Garces, P., Glasser, F.P., Brew, D.R.M., S., Goff, J., Jaffe, B., Nishimura, pathogenesis. Analyst, 136(14), 2941-
Zornoza, E. and Paya, J., Pozzolanic Y., Richmond, B., Sugawara, D., 2952. (2011). 
Activity of a Spent Fluid Catalytic Szczuciski, W., Tappin, D.R., Witter, R. 
Cracking Catalyst Residue. Advances and Yulianto, E. New insights of tsunami Hamelin, C.J., Diak, B.J., Pilkey, K., 
in Cement Research, 23(3), 105-111. hazard from the 2011 Tohoku-oki event. Multiscale modelling of the induced 
(2011). Marine Geology, 290(1-4), 46-50. plastic anisotropy in bcc metals. 
(2011). International Journal of Plasticity, 27(8), 
García-Veigas J., Cendón D.I., Pueyo 1185-1202. (2011). 
J.J. and Peryt T. Zechstein saline brines Grage, S.L., Keleshian, A.M., 
in Poland, evidence of overturned anoxic Turdzeladze, T., Battle, A.R., Tay, W.C., Hanaor D., Triani, G., Sorrell, C., 
ocean during the Late Permian mass May, R.P., Holt, S.A., Contera, S.A., Morphology and Photocatalytic Activity 
extinction event. Chemical Geology, Haertlein, M., Moulin, M., Pal, P., Rohde, of Highly Oriented Mixed Phase 
290(3-4), 189-201. (2011). P.R., Forsyth, V.T., Watts, A., Huang, Titanium Dioxide Thin Films. Surface 
K.C., Ulrich, A.S., Martinac, B., Bilayer- and Coatings Technology, 205(12), 
Gardberg, A.S., Potter, B.S., Palmer, Mediated Clustering and Functional 3658-3664. (2011). 
R.A., McIntyre, G.J. and Myles, Interaction of MscL Channels. 
D.A.A., The Neutron Structure of the Biophysical Journal, 100(5), 1252-1260. Haverd, V., Cuntz, M., Griffith, D., Keitel, 
Formyl Peptide Receptor Antagonist (2011). C., Tadros, C., Twining, J., Measured 
Cyclosporin H (CsH) Unambiguously deuterium in water vapour concentration 
Determines the Solvent and Hydrogen- Greguric, I., Taylor, S., Pham, T., does not improve the constraint on the 
Bonding Structure for Crystal Form II. Wyatt, N., Jiang, D., Bourdier, T., Loc’h, partitioning of evapotranspiration in a tall 
Journal of chemical crystallography, C., Roselt, P., Neels, O., Katsifis, forest canopy, as estimated using a soil 
41(4), 470-480. (2011). A., Radiosynthesis of a novel PET vegetation atmosphere transfer model. 
fluoronicotinamide for melanoma tumour Agricultural and forest meteorology, 
Gatta, G.D., McIntyre, G.J., Sassi, R., PET imaging; 18F MEL050. Australian 151(6), 645-654. (2011). 
Rotiroti, N., Pavese, A., Hydrogen-bond Journal of Chemistry, 64, 873-879. 
and cation partitioning in muscovite: A (2011). He, L.Z., Onaizi, S.A., Dimitrijev-
single-crystal neutron-diffraction study Dwyer, M., Malcolm, A.S., Shen, 
at 295 and 20 K. American Mineralogist, Griffith, M.J., James, M., Triani, G., H.H., Dong, C.C., Holt, S.A., Thomas, 
96(1), 34-41. (2011). Wagner, P., Wallace, G.G., Officer, R.K., Middelberg, A.P.J., Comparison 
D.L., Determining the Orientation and of positional surfactant isomers for 
Gault, B., Chen, Y. M., Moody, M. P., Molecular Packing of Organic Dyes on a displacement of rubisco protein from the 
Ohkubo, T., Hono, K. and Ringer, S. TiO2 Surface Using X-ray Reflectometry. air-water interface. Journal of Colloid 
P., Influence of the wavelength on the Langmuir, 27(21), 12944-12950. (2011). and Interface Science, 360(2), 617-622. 
spatial resolution of pulsed-laser atom. (2011).
Journal of Applied Physics, 110(9), Griffiths, M.L., Drysdale, R.N., Vonhof, 
Article No. 094901. (2011). H.B., Gagan, M.K., Zhao, J.X., Ayliffe, Herzog, G.F., Albrecht, A., Ma, P.X., 
L.K., Hantoro, W.S., Hellstrom, J.C., Fink, D., Klein, J., Middleton, R., Bogard, 
Goff, J., Chagué-Goff, C., Dominey- Cartwright, I., Frisia, S., Suwargadi, D.D., Nyquist, L.E., Shih, C.Y., Garrison, 
Howes, D., McAdoo, B., Cronin, B.W., High-resolution stalagmite D.H., Reese, Y., Masarik, J., Reedy, 
S., Bonte-Grapetin, M., Nichol, S., reconstructions for Australian- R.C., Rugel, G., Faestermann, T., 
Horrocks, M., Cisternas, M. Lamarche, Indonesian monsson rainfall variability Korschinek, G., Cosmic-Ray Exposure 
G., Pelletier, B., Jaffe, B., Dudley, W., during Heinrich stadial 3 and Greenland History of the Norton Country Enstatite 
Palaeotsunamis in the Pacific Islands. interstadial 4. Earth And Planetary Achondrite. Meteritics and Planetarty 
Earth-Science Reviews, 107(1-2, Sl), Science Letters, 303(1-2), 133-142. Science, 46(2), 284-310. (2011).
141-146. (2011). (2011). 
Hodge, E., McDonald, J., Fischer, M., 
Goff, J., Lamarche, G., Pelletier, Guralnik, B., Matmon, A., Avni, Y., Redwood, D., Hua, Q., Levchenko, 
B., Chagué-Goff, C., Strotz, L., Porat, N., and Fink, D., Constraining the V., Drysdale, R., Waring, C., Fink, D., 
Predecessors to the 2009 South Pacific evolution of river terraces with integrated Using the 14C Bomb Pulse to date young 
tsunami in the Wallis and Futuna OSL and cosmogenic nuclide data. speleothems. Radiocarbon, 53(2), 345-
archipelago. Earth-Science Reviews, Quaternary Geochronology, 6(1), 22-32. 357. (2011). 
107(1-2, SI), 91-106. (2011). (2011).
120 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
 
Hoile, R., Banos, C., Colella, M., Roux, Jacques, D.A., Langley, D.B., Kuramitsu, Karanges, E., Li, K., Motbey, C., 
C. Bioterrorism: The effects of biological S., Yokoyama, S., Trewhella, J., Guss, Callaghan, P., Katsifis, A., McGregor, 
decontamination on the recovery of J.M., The structure of TTHA0988 from I., Differential behavioural and 
electronic evidence. Forensic Science Thermus thermophilus, a KipI-KipA neurochemical outcomes from chronic 
International, 209(1-3), 143-148. (2011). homologue incorrectly annotated paroxetine treatment in adolescent 
as an allophanate hydrolase. Acta and adult rats: a model of adverse 
Hollins, S.E., Harrison, J.J., Jones, B.G., Crystallographica Section D-Biological antidepressant effects in human 
Zawadzki, A., Heijnis, H., Hankin, S., Crystallography, 67(Part 2), 105-111. adolescents? International Journal of 
Reconstructing recent sedimentation in (2011). Neuropsychopharmacology, 14(4), 491-
two urbanised coastal lagoons (NSW, 504. (2011).
Australia) using radioisotopes and James, M., Ciampi, S., Darwish, T.A., 
geochemistry. Journal of Paleolimnology, Hanley, T.L., Sylvester, S.O., Gooding, Katsifis, A., Loc’h, C., Henderson, D., 
46(4), 579-596. (2011). J.J., Nanoscale Water Condensation on Bourdier, T., Pham, T., Greguric, I., et 
Click-Functionalized Self-Assembled al., Rapid solid-phase extraction method 
Holmes, R. L., Campbell, J.A., Linser, Monolayers. Langmuir, 27(17), 10753- for measurement of non-metabolised 
R., Hook, J.M., Burford, R.P., In situ 10762. (2011). peripheral benzodiazepine receptor 
preparation of poly(2-hydroxyethyl ligands, 18FPBR102 and 18FPBR111, in rat 
methacrylate)-titania hybrids using γ James, M., Darwish, T.A., Ciampi, and primate plasma. Nuclear Medicine 
-radiation. Polymer, 52(20), 4471-4479. S., Sylvester, S.O., Zhang, Z.M., and Biology, 38(1), 137-148. (2011). 
(2011).  Ng, A., Gooding, J.J., Hanley, T.L., 
Nanoscale condensation of water on Kawaguchi, D., Nelson, A., Masubuchi, 
Hopke, P., Cohen, D. D., Application self-assembled monolayers. Soft Matter, Y., Majewski, J.P., Torikai, N., Yamada, 
of receptor modeling methods. 7(11), 5309-5318. (2011). N.L., Sarah, A.R.S., Takano, A. and 
Atmospheric Pollution Research, 2(2), Matsushita, Y., Precise Analyses of 
122-125. (2011). James, M., Nelson, A., Holt, S.A., Short-Time Relaxation at Asymmetric 
Saerbeck, T., Hamilton, W.A., Klose, F., Polystyrene Interface in Terms of 
Hudspeth, J.M., Stewart, G.A., Studer, The multipurpose time-of-flight neutron Molecular Weight by Time-Resolved 
A.J. and Goossens, D.J., Crystal and reflectometer “Platypus” at Australia’s Neutron Reflectivity Measurements, 
magnetic structures in Perovskite- OPAL reactor. Nuclear Instruments and Macromolecules, 44(23), 9424-9433. 
related La Ca FeO  (x=0.2, 0.33). Methods in Physics Research Section (2011).1-x x 3-d
Journal of Physics Chemistry Solids, a-Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors 
72(12), 1543-1547. (2011). and Associated Equipment, 632(1), 112- Kench, P. L., Lin, J., Gregoire, M-C., 
123. (2011). Meikle, S. R., An investigation of 
Hunt, G. E., McGregor, I. S., Cornish, inconsistent projections and artefacts in 
J. L., Callaghan, P. D., MDMA-induced Jeffries, C.M., Lu, Y.L., Hynson, R.M.G., multi-pinhole SPECT with axially aligned 
c-Fos expression in oxytocin-containing Taylor, J.E., Ballesteros, M., Kwan, pinholes. Physics in Medicine and 
neurons is blocked by pretreatment with A.H. and Trewhella, J., Human Cardiac Biology, 56(23), 7487-7503. (2011).
the 5-HT-1A receptor antagonist WAY Myosin Binding Protein C: Structural 
100635. Brain Research Bulletin, 86(1- Flexibility within an Extended Modular Kennedy, B. J., Avdeev, M., Structure 
2), 65-73. (2011). Architecture. Journal of Molecular of C-type Gd2O3; A powder neutron 
Biology, 414(5), 735-748. (2011). diffraction study using enriched 160Gd. 
Huson, M.G., Strounina, E.V., Kealley, Australian Journal of Chemistry, 64(1), 
C.S., Rout, M.K., Church, J.S., Johansen, D., Jeffries, C.M.J., 119-121. (2011). 
Appelqvist, I.A.M., Gidley, M.J., Gilbert, Hammouda, B., Trewhella, J., 
E.P., Effects of Thermal Denaturation on Goldenberg, D.P., Effects of Kennedy, B.J., and Avdeev, M., The 
the Solid-State Structure and Molecular Macromolecular Crowding on an structure of B-type Sm2O3; A powder 
Mobility of Glycinin. Biomacromolecules, Intrinsically Disordered Protein neutron diffraction study using enriched 
12(6), 2092-2102. (2011). Characterized by Small-Angle Neutron 154Sm, Solid State Science, 13(9), 
Scattering with Contrast Matching. 1701-1703, (2011).
Ide, A., Drisko, G.L., Scales, N., Luca, Biophysical Journal, 100(4), 1120-1128. 
V., Schiesser, C.H. and Caruso, R.A., (2011). Kennedy, B. J., Zhou, Q. D., The 
Monitoring Bisphosphonate Surface ferroelectric phase of CdTiO3: A powder 
Functionalization and Acid Stability Kabra, S., Yan, K., Mayer, S., neutron diffraction study. Journal of Solid 
of Hierarchically Porous Titanium Schmoelzer, T., Reid, M., Dippenaar, State Chemistry, 184(11), 2987-2993. 
Zirconium Oxides. Langmuir, 27(21), R., Clemens, H., Liss, K.D., Phase (2011). 
12985 – 12995. (2011). transition and ordering behavior of 
ternary Ti-Al-Mo alloys using in situ Kennedy, B.J., Zhou, Q.D., Avdeev, M., 
Jacques, D. A., Langley, D. B., Hynson, neutron diffraction. International Journal Neutron diffraction studies of Gd2Zr2O7 
R. M. G., Whitten, A. E., Kwan, A., of Materials Research, 102(6, SI), 697- pyrochlore. Journal of Solid State 
Guss, J. M., et al., Novel structure of 702. (2011). Chemistry, 184(7), 1695-1698. (2011). 
an antikinase and its inhibitor. Journal 
of Molecular Biology, 405(1), 214-226. 
(2011). 
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 121
 
ANSTO publications 2011
Khan, M.K., Fitzpatrick, M.E., Kuperkar, K.C., Mata, J.P., Bahadur, Li, X.L., Cai, K.F., Yu, D.H. and 
Hainsworth, S. V. and Edwards, P., Effect of 1-alkanols/salt on the Wang, Y.Y., Electrodeposition and 
L., Effect of residual stress on the cationic surfactant micellar aqueous characterization of thermoelectric 
nanoindentation response of aerospace solutions-A dynamic light scattering Bi2Te2Se/Te multilayer nanowire arrays. 
aluminium alloys. Computational studyJournal. Colloids and Surfaces Superlattices and Microstructures, 50(5), 
Materials Science, 50(10), 2967-2976. a-Physicochemical and Engineering 557-562. (2011).
(2011).  Aspects, 380(1-3), 60-65. (2011).
Li, X.Q., Sun, N., Dodson, J., Ji, M., 
Khan, M.K., Fitzpatrick, M.E., Larsen, J. R. Was evaporation lower Zhao, K.L., Zhou, X.Y., The impact of 
Hainsworth, S.V., Evans, A.D. and during the Last Glacial Maximum? early smelting on the environment of 
Edwards, L., Application of synchrotron Quaternary Australasia, 28(1), 11-13. Huoshiliang in Hexi Corridor, NW China, 
X-ray diffraction and nanoindentation (2011). as recorded by fossil charcoal and 
for the determination of residual stress chemical elements. Palaeogeography 
fields around scratches. Acta Matrialia, Law, M., Luzin, V., Effect of spatial Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 305 
59(22), 7508-7520. (2011).  variation of stress-free lattice spacings (1-4), 329-336. (2011). 
on measured residual stresses. Journal 
Kinsela, A. S., Collins, R. N., and of Strain Analysis for Engineering Li, X.Q., Zhao, K., Dodson, J., Zhou, X. 
Waite, T. D., Speciation and transport Design, 46(8), 837-841. (2011). Y., Moisture dynamics in central Asia for 
of arsenic in an acid sulfate soil- the last 15 kyr: new evidence from Yili 
dominated catchment, eastern Australia. Le Brun, A.P., Holt, S.A., Shah, Valley, Xinjiang, NW China. Quaternary 
Chemosphere, 82(6), 879-887. (2011). D.S.H., Majkrzak, C.F., Lakey, J.H., Science Reviews, 30(23-24), 3457-
The structural orientation of antibody 3466. (2011). 
Kirstein, O., Zhang, J.F., Kisi, E.H. and layers bound to engineered biosensor 
Riley, D.P., Ab Initio Phonon Dispersion surfaces. Biomaterials, 32(12), 3303- Lin, H. Q., Meriaty, H., Katsifis, A., 
Curves Used to Check Experimentally 3311. (2011). Prediction of synergistic antitumour 
Determined Elastic Constants of the effect of gefitinib and radiation in vitro. 
MAX Phase Ti3SiC2. Advanced Materials Le Brun, A.P., Shah, D.S.H., Athey, D., Anticancer Research, 31(9), 2883-2888. 
Research, 275, 135-138. (2011). Holt, S.A., Lakey, J.H., Self-Assembly (2011).
of Protein Monolayers Engineered for 
Kjallman, T.H.M., Nelson, A., James, M., Improved Monoclonal Immunoglobulin Liu, J., Yuan, L.X., Yang, X.S., Elbert, 
Dura, J.A., Travas-Sejdic, J., McGillivray, G Binding. International Journal of A., Harris, A.T., Synthesis of vertically 
D. J., A neutron reflectivity study of Molecular Sciences, 12(8), 5157-5167. aligned carbon nanotube arrays on 
the interfacial and thermal behaviour (2011). polyhedral Fe/Al2O3 catalysts. Chemical 
of surface-attached hairpin DNA. Soft Communications, 47(22), 6434-6436. 
Matter, 7(10), 5020-5029. (2011). Le, V. S., Specific radioactivity of (2011). 
neutron induced radioisotopes: 
Ko, J. H., Reilhac, A., Ray, N., Rusjan, assessment methods and application for Low, I. M., Pang, W. K., Kennedy, 
P., Bloomfield, P., Pellecchia, G., Houle, medically useful 177Lu production as a S. J., Smith, R. I., High-temperature 
S., Strafella, A. P., Analysis of variance case. Molecules, 16(1), 818-846. (2011). thermal stability of Ti2AlN and Ti4AlN3: a 
in neuroreceptor ligand imaging studies. comparative diffraction study. Journal of 
Public Library of Science, 6(8), e23298. Lee, K H, Schwenn, P E, Smith, A R. G., the European Ceramic Society, 31(1-2), 
(2011). Cavaye, H., Shaw, P. E., and James, 159-166. (2011).
M., et al., Morphology of all-solution-
Kobayashi, T., Ryder, D.S., Ralph, processed “bilayer” organic solar cells. Lu, Y.L., Jeffries, C.M., Trewhella, J., 
T.J., Mazumder, D., Saintilan, N., Iles, Advanced Materials, 23(6), 766-770. Invited Review: Probing the Structures 
J., Knowles, L., Thomas, R., Hunter, (2011). of Muscle Regulatory Proteins Using 
S., Longitudinal spatial variation Small-Angle Solution Scattering. 
in ecological conditions in an in- Lehnert, W., Gregoire, M-C., Reilhac, A., Biopolymers, 95(8, SI), 505-516. (2011). 
channel floodplain river system during Meikle, S. R., Analytical positron range 
flow pulses. River Research and modelling in heterogeneous media for Luzin, V., Spencer, K., Zhang, M.X., 
Applications, 27(4), 461-472. (2011). PET Monte Carlo simulation. Physics in Residual stress and thermo-mechanical 
Medicine and Biology, 56(11), 3313- properties of cold spray metal coatings. 
Koo, H.J., Lee, C., Whangbo, M.H., 3335. (2011). Acta Materialia, 59(3), 1259-1270. 
McIntyre, G.J., Kremer, R.K., On the (2011). 
Nature of the Spin Frustration in the Li, Q.M. and Flores-Johnson, E.A., Hard 
CuO2 Ribbon Chains of LiCuVO4: projectile penetration and trajectory Mackintosh, A., Golledge, N., Domack, 
Crystal Structure Determination at 1.6 stability. International Journal of Impact E., Dunbar, R., Leventer, A., White, D., 
K, Magnetic Susceptibility Analysis, and Engineering, 38(10), 815-823. (2011). et al., Retreat of the East Antarctic ice 
Density Functional Evaluation of the sheet during the last glacial termination. 
Spin Exchange Constants. Inorganic Nature Geoscience, 4(3), 195-202. 
Chemistry, 50(8), 3582-3588. (2011). (2011). 
122 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
 
Marsilius, M., Granzow, T., Jones, Miiller, W., Avdeev, M., Zhou, Q., Morgan, D. L., Triani, G., Blackford, 
J.L., Quantitative comparison between Studer, A.J., Kennedy, B.J., Kearley, M. G., Raftery, N. A., Frost, R. L., and 
the degree of domain orientation and G.J. and Ling, C.D., Spin-gap Waclawik, E. R., Alkaline hydrothermal 
nonlinear properties of a PZT ceramic opening accompanied by a strong kinetics in titanate nanostructure 
during electrical and mechanical loading. magnetoelastic response in the S=1 formation. Journal of Materials Science, 
Journal of Materials Research, 26(9), magnetic dimer system Ba3BiRu2O9. 46(2), 548-557. (2011).
1126-1132. (2011). Physical Review B, 84(22), Art. No. 
220406. (2011). Mulders, A.M., Bartkowiak, M., Hester, 
Mata, J.P., Udabage, P., Gilbert, E.P., J.R., Pomjakushina, E., Conder, K., 
Structure of casein micelles in milk Miiller, W., Christensen, M., Khan, A., Ferroelectric charge order stabilized 
protein concentrate powders via small Sharma, N., Macquart, R. B., Avdeev, by antiferromagnetism in multiferroic 
angle X-ray scattering. Soft Matter, 7(8), M., et al., YCa3(VO)3(BO3)4: a kagom LuFe2O4. Physical Review B, 84(14), Art. 
3837-3843. (2011). compound based on vanadium(III) No. 140403. (2011). 
with a highly frustrated ground state. 
Mattner, F., Bandin, D. L., Staykova, Chemistry of Materials, 23(5), 1315- Mume, E., Lynch, D. E., Uedono, A., 
M., Berghofer, P., Gregoire, M-C., 1322. (2011). Smith, S. V., Investigating the binding 
Ballantyne, P., Quinlivan, M., Fordham, properties of porous drug delivery 
S., Pham, T., Willenborg, D. O., Katsifis, Minakshi, M., Blackford, M.G. and systems using nuclear sensors 
A., Evaluation of [123I]-CLINDE as a Ionescu, M., Characterization of and Positron Annihilation Lifetime 
potent SPECT radiotracer to assess alkaline earth oxide additions to Spectroscopy – predicting conditions 
the degree of astroglia activation in the MnO2 cathode in an aqueous for optimum performance. Dalton 
cuprizone-induced neuroinflammation. secondary battery. Journal of Alloys Transactions, 40(23), 6278-6288. 
European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Compounds, 509(20), 5974-5980. (2011).
and Molecular Imaging, 38(8), 1516- (2011). 
1528. (2011). Muransky, O., Smith, M.C., Bendeich, 
Minakshi, M., Sharma, N., Ralph, D., P.J., Edwards, L., Validated numerical 
Mazumder, D., Saintilan, N., Williams, Appadoo, D., Nallathamby, K., Synthesis analysis of residual stresses in Safety 
R. J., and Szymczak, R., Trophic and Characterization of Li(Co0.5Ni0.5) Relief Valve (SRV) nozzle mock-ups. 
importance of a temperate intertidal PO4 Cathode for Li-Ion Aqueous Battery Computational Materials Science, 50(7), 
wetland to resident and itinerant taxa: Applications. Electrochemical and Solid 2203-2215. (2011). 
evidence from multiple stable isotope State Letters, 14(6), A86-A89. (2011). 
analyses. Marine and Freshwater Muscheler, R. and Heikkila, U., 
Research, 62(1), 11-19. (2011). Minakshi, M., Singh, P., Sharma, N., Constraints on long-term changes in 
Blackford, M., and Ionescu, M., Lithium solar activity from the range of variability 
McGregor H. V., Fischer M. J., extraction-insertion from/into LiCoPO4 of cosmogenic radionuclide records. 
Gagan M. K., Fink, D., Woodroffe, in aqueous batteries. Industrial and Astrophysics and Space Sciences 
C.D., Environmental control of the Engineering Chemistry Research, 50(4), Transactions, 7(3), 355-364. (2011).
oxygen isotope composition of Porites 1899-1905. (2011).
coral microatolls. Geochimica Et Nadeem, M.A., Thornton, A.W., Hill, 
Cosmochimica Acta, 75(14), 3930-3944. Mitchell, M. R., Reader, S. W., Johnston, M.R., Stride, J.A., A flexible copper 
(2011). K. E., Pickard, C. J., Whittle, K. R. based microporous metal-organic 
and Ashbrook, S. E., 119Sn MAS NMR framework displaying selective 
McGregor, H. V, Hellstrom, J., Fink, and first-principles calculations for the adsorption of hydrogen over nitrogen. 
D., Hua, Q., Woodroffe, C. D., Rapid investigation of disorder in stannate Dalton Transactions, 40(13), 3398-3401. 
U-series dating of young fossil corals by pyrochlores. Physical Chemistry (2011).
laser ablation MC-ICPMS. Quaternary Chemical Physics, 13(2), 488-497. 
Geochronology, 6(2), 195-206. (2011). (2011). Naidoo-Variawa, S., Lehnert, W., 
Banati, R. B., and Meikle, S. R., Scatter 
Miao, M.H., Hawkins, S.C., Cai, J.Y., Mole, R.A., Stride, J.A., Henry, P.F., correction for large non-human primate 
Gengenbach, T.R., Knott, R., Huynh, Hoelzel, M., Senyshyn, A., Alberola, A., brain imaging using microPET. Physics 
C.P., Effect of gamma-irradiation on Garcia, C.J.G., Raithby, P.R., Wood, in Medicine and Biology, 56(7), 2131-
the mechanical properties of carbon P.T. , Two Stage Magnetic Ordering and 2143. (2011). 
nanotube yarns. Carbon, 49(14), 4940- Spin Idle Behavior of the Coordination 
4947. (2011). Polymer  Nguyen, T.-H., Hanley, T., Porter, C. 
Co-3(OH)2(C4O4)2• 3H2O Determined J. H., Boyd, B. J., Nanostructured 
Mihalik, M., Prokleska, J., Kamarad, Using Neutron Diffraction. Inorganic liquid crystalline particles provide long 
J., Prokes, K., Isnard, O., McIntyre, Chemistry, 50(6), 2246-2251. (2011). duration sustained-release effect for 
G.J., Donni, A., Yoshii, S., Kitazawa, H., a poorly water soluble drug after oral 
Sechovsky, V., de Boer, F.R., NdRhSn: Mooney, S. D., Harrison, S. P., Bartlein, administration. Journal of Controlled 
A ferromagnet with an antiferromagnetic P. J., Daniau, A. -L., Stevenson, J., Release, 153(2), 180–186. (2011). 
precursor. Physical Review B, 83(10), Brownlie, K. C., et al., Late Quaternary 
Art. No.104403. (2011). fire regimes of Australasia. Quaternary 
Science Reviews, 30(1-2), 28-46. 
(2011).
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 123
 
ANSTO publications 2011
Noked, O., Yakovlev, S., Greenberg, Patwardhan, S. V., Holt, S. A., Kelly, S. Pojprapai, S., Simons, H., Studer, A.J., 
Y., Garbarino, G., Shuker, R., Avdeev, M., Kreiner, M., Perry, C. C. and van Luo, Z.H., Hoffman, M., Temperature 
M., Sterer, E., Pressure-induced der Walle, C. F., Silica Condensation Dependence on Domain Switching 
amorphization of La1/3NbO3. Journal of by a Silicate in alpha Homologue Behavior in Lead Zirconate Titanate 
Non-Crystalline Solids, 357(18), 3334- Involves Surface-Induced Transition Under Electrical Load via In situ Neutron 
3337. (2011). to a Stable Structural Intermediate Diffraction. Journal of the American 
Forming a Saturated Monolayer. Ceramic Society, 94(10), 3202-3205. 
Nuhiji, B., Attard, D., Thorogood, Biomacromolecules, 11(11), 3126-3135. (2011). 
G., Hanley, T., Magniez, K. Fox, B., (2011).
The effect of alternate heating rates Popa, M.E., Vermeulen, A.T., van 
during cure on the structure-property Payten, W. M., Wei, T., Snowden, K. U., den Bulk, W.C.M., Jongejan, P.A.C., 
relationships of epoxy/MMT clay Bendeich, P., Law, M., and Charman, Batenburg, A.M., Zahorowski, W., 
nanocomposites. Composites Science D., Crack initiation and crack growth Rockmann, T., H2 vertical profiles 
and Technology, 71(15), 1761-1768. assessment of a high pressure steam in the continental boundary layer: 
(2011). chest. International Journal of Pressure measurements at the Cabauw tall 
Vessels and Piping, 88(1), 34-44. tower in The Netherlands. Atmospheric 
Okal, E.A., Borrero, J.C., Chague-Goff, (2011). Chemistry And Physics, 11(13), 6425-
C. (2011). Tsunamigenic predecessors 6443. (2011). 
to the 2009 Samoa Earthquake. Earth- Payten, W., Charman, D., Chapman, 
Science Reviews, 107(1-2), 128-140. A., Bashiri, K. and Bendeich, P., Life Princep, A.J., Mulders, A.M., Staub, 
(2011). Assessment and Inspection of a Hot U., Scagnoli, V., Nakamura, T., 
Reheat Turbine Bifurcation. Engineering Kikkawa, A., Lovesey, S.W., Balcar, 
Ouladdiaf, B., Archer, J., Allibon, J.R., Failure Analysis, 18(6), 1445-1457. E., Triakontadipole and high-
Decarpentrie, P., Rodriguez-Carvajal, (2011).  order dysprosium multipoles in the 
J., Lemée-Cailleau, M.H., Hewat, A.W., antiferromagnetic phase of DyB2C2. 
York, S., Brau, D. and McIntyre, G.J., Pearson, S., Hua, Q.A., Allen, Journal of Physics-Condensed Matter, 
CYCLOPS - a reciprocal-space explorer K., Bowman, D.M.J.S., Validating 23(26), Art. No. 266002. (2011). 
based on CCD neutron detectors. putatively cross-dated Callitris tree-
Journal of applied crystallography, 44, ring chronologies using bomb-pulse Qasim, I., Kennedy, B.J., Zhang, Z. 
392-397. (2011). radiocarbon analysis. Australian Journal M., Avdeev, M. and Jang, L. Y., X-ray 
Of Botany, 59(1), 7-17. (2011). absorption near edge structure and 
Pang, W. K., Low, I. M., O’Connor, B. H., crystallographic studies of the mixed 
Peterson, V. K., Studer, A. J., Palmquist, Peterson, V.K., Brown, C.M., Liu, Y., valence oxide SrRu0.8Ni0.2O3. Journal of 
J. P., In situ diffraction study of thermal Kepert, C.J., Structural Study of D  Physics: Condensed Matter , 23(43), Art. 2
decomposition in Maxthal Ti AlC. within the Trimodal Pore System of a No. 435401. (2011).2
Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Metal Organic Framework. Journal of 
509(1), 172-176. (2011). Physical Chemistry C, 115(17), 8851- Qin, J., Taylor, D., Atahan, P., Zhang, 
8857. (2011). X., Wu, G., Dodson, J., et al., Neolithic 
Pappas, C., Lelievre-Berna, E., Bentley, agriculture, freshwater resources and 
P., Falus, P., Fouquet, P., Farago, B., Peterson, V.K., Shoko, E., Kearley, rapid environmental changes on the 
Magnetic fluctuations and correlations G.J., The effect of host relaxation and lower Yangtze, China. Quaternary 
in MnSi: Evidence for a chiral skyrmion dynamics on guest molecule dynamics Research, 75(1), 55-65. (2011). 
spin liquid phase. Physical Review B, in H2/tetrahydrofuran-hydrate. Faraday 
83(22), Art. No. 224405. (2011). Discussions, 151, 37-46. (2011). Qu, D.D., Liss, K.D., Yan, K., Reid, M., 
Almer, J.D., Wang, Y.B., Liao, X.Z., 
Paskevicius, M., Sheppard, D.A., Phan, S., Fong, W.K., Kirby, N., Hanley, Shen, J., On the Atomic Anisotropy of 
Chaudhary, A.L., Webb, C.J., Gray, T. and Boyd, B. J., Evaluating the link Thermal Expansion in Bulk Metallic 
E.M., Tian, H.Y., Peterson, V.K., Buckley, between self-assembled mesophase Glass. Advanced Engineering Materials, 
C.E., Kinetic limitations in the Mg- structure and drug release. International 13(9), 861-864. (2011). 
Si-H system. International Journal of Journal of Pharmaceutics, 421(1), 176-
Hydrogen Energy, 36(17), 10779-10786. 182. (2011). Queen, W. L., Brown, C. M., Britt, D. 
(2011). K., Zajdel, P., Hudson, M. R. and Yaghi, 
Pogson R.E., Osborne R.A.L., O. M., Site-Specific CO2 Adsorption 
Pastuovic, Z., Vittone, E., Capan, I., Colchester D.M. and Cendón D.I., and Zero Thermal Expansion in an 
Jaksic, M., Probability of divacancy trap Sulfate and phosphate-sulfate Anisotropic Pore Network. The journal of 
production in silicon diodes exposed to speleothemes at Jenolan Caves, New physical chemistry C, 115(50), 24915-
focused ion beam irradiation. Applied South Wales. Acta Carsologica, 40(2), 24919. (2011).
Physics Letters, 98(9), Article No., 239–254. (2011). 
092101. (2011). 
124 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
 
Rajkhowa, R., Naik, R., Wang, L., Rizwan, S. B., Assmus, D., Boehnke, Schmoelzer, T., Liss, K.D., Staron, 
Smith, S. V., Wang, X., An investigation A., Hanley, T., Boyd, B. J., Rades, T., P., Mayer, S., Clemens, H., The 
into transition metal ion absorption Hook, S., Preparation of phytantriol Contribution of High-Energy X-Rays 
properties of silk fibres and particles cubosomes by solvent precursor dilution and Neutrons to Characterization and 
using radioisotopes. Journal of Applied for the delivery of protein vaccines. Development of Intermetallic Titanium 
Polymer Science, 119(6), 3630-3639. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Aluminides. Advanced Engineering 
(2011). Biopharmaceutics, 79 (1, SI), 15-22. Materials, 13(8), 685-699. (2011). 
(2011).  
Randau, C., Garbe, U., Brokmeier, Schmoelzer, T., Liss, K.D., Rester, M., 
H.G., StressTextureCalculator: a Rodriguez, D.M., Kennedy, S.J., Bentley, Yan, K., Stark, A., Reid, M., Peel, M. and 
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area-detector measurements. Journal of for new instrumentation concepts. in an Advanced TiAl Alloy. Praktische 
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Ratcliff, W., Kan, D., Chen, W.C., Rodriguez, E. E., Poineau, F., Llobet, A., Schmoelzer, T., Mayer, S., Sailer, C., 
Watson, S., Chi, S.X., Erwin, R., Kennedy, B. J., Avdeev, M., Thorogood, Haupt, F., Guther, V., Staron, P.,; Liss, 
McIntyre, G.J., Capelli, S.C., Takeuchi, G. J., et al., High temperature magnetic K.D., Clemens, H., In situ Diffraction 
I., Neutron Diffraction Investigations of ordering in the 4d perovskite SrTcO3. Experiments for the Investigation 
Magnetism in BiFeO3 Epitaxial Films. Physical Review Letters, 106(6), of Phase Fractions and Ordering 
Advanced Functional Materials, 21(9), 067201. (2011). Temperatures in Ti-44 at% Al-(3-7) 
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Reddy, M.V., Raju, M.J.S., Sharma, N., Ben-Nissan, B., Adhesion of sol-gel 
Quan, P.Y., Nowshad, S.H., Emmanuel, derived hydroxyapatite nanocoatings Schokker, E.P., Church, J.S., Mata, 
H.E.C., Peterson, V.K., Chowdari, on anodised pure titanium and titanium J.P., Gilbert, E.P., Puvanenthiran, A., 
B.V.R., Preparation of Li1.03Mn1.97O4 and (Ti6Al4V) alloy substrates. Surface and Udabage, P., Reconstitution properties 
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Method and X-ray, Neutron Diffraction 3529. (2011). composition and storage. International 
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Reehuis, M., Ulrich, C., Prokes, K., M., Hickey, B.J., Stampfl, A.P.J., Klose, S.J., Dou, S.X., Reduction of hysteresis 
Mat’as, S., Fujioka, J., Miyasaka, S., F., Stamps, R.L., Spatial Fluctuations losses in the magnetic refrigerant 
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Ricco, M., Pontiroli, D., Mazzani, M., Detailed investigations of phase neutron diffraction study of the MoS2 
Choucair, M., Stride, J. A. and Yazyev, transitions and magnetic structure anode using a custom-built Li-ion 
O. V., Muons Probe Strong Hydrogen in Fe(III), Mn(II), Co(II) and Ni(II) battery. Solid State Ionics, 199-200, 
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Deposits, flow characteristics, and H., Hilscher, G., Muller, H., Svagera, a LiCo0.16Mn1.84O4 Cathode. Journal of 
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ANSTO publications 2011
Shiga, Y., Greene, R.S.B., Scott Sowada, K., Jacobsen, G.E., Bertuch, Thorogood, G. J., Kennedy, B.J., 
K. M.and Stelcer, E., Recognising F., Palmer, T., Jenkinson, A., Who’s that Avdeev. M., Peterson, V.K., Hanna. 
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126 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
 
Wacklin, H.P., Composition and Wang, J.L., Campbell, S.J., Zeng, R., White, D. A., Fink, D., and Gore, D. 
Asymmetry in Supported Membranes Dou, S.X., Kennedy, S.J., Magnetic B., Cosmogenic nuclide evidence for 
Formed by Vesicle Fusion. Langmuir, phase transition and Mossbauer enhanced sensitivity of an East Antarctic 
27(12), 7698-7707. (2011). spectroscopy of ErNi2Mnx compounds. ice stream to change during the last 
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LiFePO4. Journal of the American Carboxylic Acid-Directed Clustering Zaluzec, N. J., Ion irradiation of novel 
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S.X., Magnetocaloric effect in layered interleukin-10 release from neonatal nineteenth century major European 
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Xia, Y., Conen, F., Haszpra, L., Ferenczi, Yang, Z.X., Du, G.D., Guo, Z.P., Yu, Zhang, K., Feichter, J., Kazil, J., Wan, 
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Very Stable Nocturnal Boundary Layer nanowires with highly reversible Schmidt, M., Yver, C., Neubert, R.E.M., 
Overland. Boundary-layer Meteorology, electrochemical performance. Brunke, E.G., Radon activity in the 
138(1), 163-170. (2011). Electrochemistry Communications, lower troposphere and its impact on 
13(1), 46-49. (2011). ionization rate: a global estimate using 
Yamada, M., Iwashita, Y., Kanaya, T., different radon emissions. Atmospheric 
Ichikawa, M., Tongu, H., Kennedy, S.J., Yao, S.H., Wang, J.Y., Liu, H., Yan, T., Chemistry And Physics, 11(15), 7817-
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N.L., Hirota, K., Carpenter, J.M., Lal, J., abnormal thermal expansion of nearly 
Andersen, K., Geltenbort, P., Guerard, stoichiometric LiNbO3. Journal of Crystal Zhang, X. R., Heijnis, H., Dodson, 
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M., Bleuel, M., The performance of Environmental changes indicated by 
magnetic lens for focusing VCN- Yaron, P.N., Scott, A.J., Reynolds, P.A., grain-size and trace-metal analysis 
SANS. Nuclear Instruments and Mata, J.P., White, J.W., High Internal over the past 700 years at Annaburroo 
Methods in Physics Research Section Phase Emulsions under Shear. Co- Billabong, NT, Australia. Quaternary 
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Thermal expansion behaviour in the 
Yan, K, Carr, D.G., Kabra, S., Reid, M, Yeoh, W.K., Gault, B., Cui, X.Y., Zhu, oxygen deficient perovskites Sr2BSbO5.5 
Studer, A, Harrison, R.P., Dippenaar R. C. Moody, M. P., Li, L., Zheng, R.K., (B=Ca, Sr, Ba). Competing effects of 
and Liss, K-D., In situ Characterization Li, W.X., Wang, X.L., Dou, S.X., Sun, water and oxygen ordering. Journal of 
of Lattice Structure Evolution during G.L., Lin, C.T., and Ringer, S.P., Direct Solid State Chemistry, 184(9), 2559-
Phase Transformation of Zr-2.5Nb. Observation of Local Potassium 2565. (2011). 
Advanced Engineering Materials, 13(9), Variation and its Correlation to Electronic 
882-886. (2011). Inhoogeneity in BA1-xKx. Physical Review Zhou, X. Y., Li, X. Q., Zhao, K. L., 
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Yan, T., Zheng, F.F., Yu, Y.G., Qin, S.B., (2011).  Early agricultural development and 
Liu, H., Wang, J.Y., Yu, D.H., Formation environmental effects in the Neolithic 
mechanism of black LiTaO3 single Zeng, R., Debnath, J.C., Chen, D.P., Longdong basin (East Gansu). Chinese 
crystals through chemical reduction. Shamba, P., Wang, J.L., Kennedy, S.J., Science Bulletin, 56(1-6), 1-10. (2011).
Journal of Applied Crystallography, Campbell, S.J., Silver, T., Dou, S.X., 
44(part 1) 158-162. (2011). Magnetic properties in polycrystalline Zhu, H., Couper, M.J. and Dahle, A.K., 
and single crystal Ca-doped LaCoO3. Effect of Process Variables on Mg-Si 
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H., Zheng, Z., Xie, M., Smith, S. V., No. 07E146. (2011). Series Alumium Extrusions. Journal of 
Komarneni, S., Capture of radioactive Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, 
cesium and iodide Ions from water by Zeng, R., Dou, S. X., Wang, J. L., and 63(11), 66-71. (2011). 
using titanate nanofibers and nanotubes. Campbell, S. J., Large magnetocaloric 
Angewandte Chemie International effect in re-entrant ferromagnet 
Edition, 50(45), 10594–10598.(2011). PrMn1.4Fe0.6Ge2. Journal of Alloys and 
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Ended Aligned Carbon Nanotube Arrays Quantitative neutron diffraction texture 
Produced Using CO2-Assisted Floating- measurement applied to alpha-phase 
Ferrocene Chemical Vapor Deposition. alumina and Ti3AlC2. Journal of Applied 
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128 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
 
Books, Edited Book Chapters, Special Journal Issues 
and Theses 
Book Chapters Technical Reports Sugawara, D., Goto K., Chagué-
Goff, C., Fujino, S., Goff, J., Jaffe, 
Hughes, C.E., Cendon, D.I., Johansen, Carton, D., Vacuum Technology B., Nishimura, Y., Richmond, B., 
M.P., Meredith, K.T., Climate Change and Vacuum Design Handbook for Szczucinski, W., Tappin, D.R., Witter, R., 
and Groundwater. In Johes, J.A.A. (Ed.), Accelerator Technicians. ANSTO Yulianot, E., Initial field survey report of 
Sustaining Groundwater Resources: External Report ANSTO/E-775. (2011). the 2011 East Japan Tsunami in Sendai, 
A Critical Element in the Global Water Natori adn Iwanuma Cities. UNESCO-
Crisis (pp. 97-117). New York: Springer. IOC International Tsunami Survey Team. 
(2011). Chagué-Goff, C., Goff, J.R., Dominey- Report to UNESCO, 16 pp. (2011). 
Howes, D., Nott, J., Sloss, C., Shaw, 
W. & Law, L., Tropical Cyclone Yasi and Editing of Special Journals
*Peterson, V. K., Studying the Hydration its predecessors. Australian Tsunami 
of Cement Systems in Real Time using Research Centre Miscellaneous Report Buttner, H. G. (Ed.) Neutron News, 22 
Quasielastic and Inelastic Neutron No. 5, 16 pp. (2011). (1-4). Philadelphia, USA: Taylor and 
Scattering. In Studying Kinetics with Cohen, D., Crawford, J., Siegele, R, Francis Group. (2011)
Neutrons - Prospects for Time-Resolved Description of ANSTO’s Confocal 
Neutron Scattering. Eds. G. Eckold, H. Microprobe Simulation Program, ANSTO 
Schober and S. E. Nagler, pp. 19-75. ThesesExternal Report E-722. (2011).
Springer, Heidelberg. (2010).
Freire, T. “Iso-electric points of modified 
Crawford, J., Cohen, D., Doherty, G., and unmodified Bauxite Refinery 
Voskoboinikov, R. E., Recent Advances Atanacio, A., Calculated K, L, and Residues” (Honours Thesis)- Southern 
in Molecular Dynamics Modelling M shell X-ray line intensities for light 
of Radiation Effects in a-Zr. In M. P. Cross University, Australia (2011).ion impact on selected targets from 
Hemsworth (Ed.), Nuclear Materials. (* not included in previous year’s research Z=6 to 100. ANSTO External Report 
Nova Publishers. Pages, 177-216. selections report)ANSTO/E-774. (2011).
(2011).
Published Conference Proceedings
Andersen, M.S., Rau, G.C., McCallum, Atuchin, V. V., Borosov, S. Bartle, C.M., Edgar, A.,Dixie, L., 
A., Meredith, K., Acworth, R.I., V.,Pervukhina, N. V. & Zhang, Z., Varoy, C., Piltz, R., Buchanan, S. and 
Groundwater recharge and geochemical Structural and electronic parameters Rutherford, K., Novel methods for 
processes in a semi-arid losing stream of complex niobates and tantalates. measuring afterglow in developmental 
using heat, isotopes and geochemistry. 2010 International Conference on scintillators for X-ray and neutron 
11th Australasian Environmental Isotope Nano Science and Technology, 18th detection, The Ninth World Conference 
Conference and 4th Australasian -19th December 2010, Emei, China. In on Neutron radiography (WCNR-9), 
Hydrogeology Research Conference, International Journal of Applied Physics 3rd-8th October 2010, Kwa Maritane, 
12th-14th July 2011. Cairns, Australia. In and Mathematics, 1, pp. 38-42. (2011). North-West, South Africa. In Nuclear 
11th Australasian Environmental Isotope Instruments and Methods in Physics 
Conference and 4th Australasian Azcurra, C. S., Hughes, C. E., Parkes, Research Section A: Accelerators, 
Hydrogeology Research Conference S., Hollins, S. E., Gibson, J.J., McCabe, Spectrometers, Detectors and 
Proceedings, pp. 18. (2011). M.F., Evans, J.P. A comparison between Associated Equipment, 651(1), 105-109. 
direct and pan-derived measurements of (2011).
Atanacio, A. J., Stelcer, E., Cohen, the isotopic composition of atmospheric 
D. D., Ion Beam Analysis, Positive waters.The 19th International 
Matrix Factorisation and Wind Back Congress on Modelling and Simulation 
Trajectories, Tools for PM2.5 Particle (MODSIM2011), 12th-16th December 
Research in Australia. 20th International 2011. Perth, Western Australia. In F. 
Clean Air and Environment Conference Chan et al, eds. MODSIM2011, 19th 
(CASANZ 2011), 31 July-2nd August International Congress on Modelling and 
2011, Auckland, New Zealand. (2011). Simulation. Modelling and Simulation 
Society of Australia and New Zealand, 
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ANSTO publications 2011
Bhatia, V., Thorogood, G., Dowd, Child, D. and Hotchkis, M., Plutonium Fink, D., Fujioka, T., Mifsud, C., 
A. & Cortie, M.B., Thins Films of and uranium contamination is soils from Nanson, G., Felton, A., Overturned 
AuCuAl Shape Memory Alloy for the former nuclear weapon tests in mega boulders on coastal cliff-tops 
Use in Plasmonic Nano-acturators. Australia. 12th International Conference and in bedrock river channels : can 
2010 MRS Fall Meeting: Symposium on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry cosmogenic nuclides constrain tsunami 
N – Intermetallic Based Alloys for (AMS 12), 20th - 25th March 2011. and palaeo-flood events in Australia? 
Structural and Functional Application, Museum of New Zealand: Te Papa 12th International Conference on 
29th November – 3rd December 2010, Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand. Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS 
Boston, Massachusetts, USA. In M. (2011). 12), 20th - 25th March 2011. Museum 
Palm, B. P. Bewlay, K. S. Kumar, K. of New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa, 
Yoshimi (Eds), Intermetallic-Based Child, D. and Simon, K., A new Wellington, New Zealand. (2011).
Alloys for Structural and Functional method for separation and purification 
Applications: MRS Proceedings of beryllium and aluminium using Fink, D., Fujioka, T., Mifsud, C., Nanson, 
Volume 1295 (p. mrsf10-1295-n-01-08), the Eichrom DIPEX® resin. 12th G., Felton, A., Quantifying the response 
Cambridge University Press (2011). International Conference on Accelerator of Australian landscapes to climatic 
Mass Spectrometry (AMS 12), and tectonic forcing using cosmogenic 
Cadogan, J. M., Avdeev, M., Kumar, P., 20th - 25th March 2011. Museum of isotope analysis. 12th International 
Suresh, K., D., Ryan, D. H., Neutron New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa, Conference on Accelerator Mass 
powder diffraction determination of Wellington, New Zealand. (2011). Spectrometry (AMS 12), 20th - 25th 
the magnetic structure of Nd2Al, March 2011. Museum of New Zealand: 
Joint European Magnetic Symposia Darwish, T., Luks, E., Moraes, G., Gillon, Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New 
(JEMS 2010), 23th-28th August 2010, M., Hunt, T., Hanley, T., James, M. & Zealand. (2011).
Krakow, Poland. In Journal of Physics: Holden, P., Deuteration of Oleic Acid, 
Conference Series, 303(1), Art. No. Lipids and Other Molecules for Neutron Fink, D., Storey, B., Joy, K., Shulmeister, 
012026. (2011). Studies. XXII International Congress and J. Constraints on ice volume changes 
General Assembly of the International of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and 
Chagué-Goff, C., Goff, J.R., Dudley, Union of Crystallography (IUCr2011), Ross Ice Shelf since the LGM based 
W., Nichol, S., Mooney, S., Zawadzki, 22th – 30th August 2011, Madrid, Spain. on cosmogenic exposure ages. 
A., Bennett, J.W., Heijnis, H., Courtney, In Acta Crystallographica Section A: 12th International Conference on 
C. & Dominey-Howes, D., Multi-proxy Foundations of Crystallography, A67 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS 
analysis of an enigmatic sand layer in (Supplement), pp. C182. (2011). 12), 20th - 25th March 2011. Museum 
Pololu Valley, Hawaii: tsunami or storm of New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa, 
deposit? European Geosciences Union Evans, P.J., Nambiar, M., Triani, G., Wellington, New Zealand. (2011).
General Assembly, 3th-8th April 2011. Shapter, J.G. & Losic, D., Fabrication of 
Vienna, Austria. In Geological Research Titania Nanotube Membranes by Atomic Fong, N., Guagliardo, P., Williams, J., 
Abstracts, Vol. 13, EGU2011-1476. Layer Deposition Using Nanoporous Musumeci, A., Martin, D., Smith, S. V., 
(2011). Alumina as a Template. Chemca 2011: Clay particles - potential of Positron 
Engineering a Better World, 18th – 21th Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy 
Chambers, S., Williams, A. G., September, 2011, Sydney, New South (PALS) for studying interlayer spacing. 
Zahorowski, W., Griffiths, A., Crawford, Wales, Australia, In Proceedings of 12th International Workshop on Slow 
J., Separating remote fetch and local Chemca 2011, pp. 092. (2011). Positron Beam Techniques (SLOPOS 
mixing influences on near-surface 12), 1st - 6th August, 2010. Magnetic 
radon gradient measurements. The Fainerman-Melnikova, M., Ho, E.M. Island, Australia. In Journal of Physics: 
atmosphere and incorporating the Cape and Soldenhoff, K., Impact of sulphate Conference Series 262, 12022. (2011).
Grim Annual Science Meeting (The fifith media on the extraction of rare earths 
CAWCR Workshop), 15th-17th Noverber with organophosphorous reagents. Fujioka, T., Fink, D., Mifsud, C., 
2011. Melbourne, Australia. In Keith, A. 19th International Solvent Extraction Improving the accuracy of aluminium 
D. and Holis, A. J. (Eds). Composition Conference (ISEC), 3th -7th October assay in purified quartz for in situ, 
of the atmosphere - abstracts of the fifth 2011. Santiago, Chile. In Proceedings of 12th International Conference on 
CAWCR Workshop, CAWCR Technical the 19th International Solvent Extraction Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS 
Report No. 044, pp.6. (2011). Conference, Chapter 3, Paper 102. 12), 20th - 25th March 2011. Museum 
(2011). of New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa, 
Chamizo, E., Garcia-León, M., Garcia- Wellington, New Zealand. (2011). 
Tenorio, R., Hotchkis, M. Measurement 
of Pu and U isotopes on the 1 MV Goff, J., Chagué-Goff, C. & Dominey-
AMS system at the Centro Nacional Howes, D. Tracking the extent of the 
de Aceleradore. 12th International Kuwae. European Geosciences Union 
Conference on Accelerator Mass General Assembly, 3th-8th April 2011. 
Spectrometry (AMS 12), 20th - 25th Vienna, Austria. In Geological Research 
March 2011. Museum of New Zealand: Abstracts, Vol. 13, EGU2011-85. (2011). 
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Hackett, M. J., Siegele, R., El-Assad, Hughes, C.E., Cendon, D.I., Harrison, Keywood, M., Galbally, I., Cope, M., 
F., McQuillan, J. A., Aitken, J. B., J.J., Hankin, S., Johansen, M.P. Payne, Boast, K., Chambers, S., Cheng, 
Carter, E. A., Grau, G. E., Hunt, N. H., T.E., Vine, M., Collins, R.N., Hoffmann, M., Dunne, E., Fedele, R., Gillett, 
Cohen, D. and Lay, P. A., Investigation E., Loosz, T.M., Movement of a tritium R., Griffiths, A., Lawson, S., Miljevic, 
of the Mouse Cerebellum Using STIM plume in shallow groundwater at a B., Molloy, S., Powell, J., Reisen, F., 
and μ -PIXE Spectrometric and FTIR legacy low level radioactive waste Ristovski, Z., Selleck, P., Ward, J., 
Spectroscopic Mapping and Imaging. disposal site in eastern Australia. South Sydney Particle Study: overview and 
12th International Conference on Pacific Environmental Radioactivity motivations. The atmosphere and 
Nuclear Microprobe Technology and Association 2008 conference (SPERA incorporating the Cape Grim Annual 
Applications (ICNMTA 2010), 26th- 2008), 23th-27th November 2008. Science Meeting (The fifith CAWCR 
30th July 2010. Leipzing, Germany. In Christchurch, New Zealand. In Journal Workshop), 15th-17th Noverber 2011. 
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in of Environmental Radioactivity, 102(10), Melbourne, Australia. In Keith, A. D. 
Physics Research Section B: Beam 943-952. (2011). and Holis, A. J. (Eds). Composition of 
Interactions with Materials and Atoms, the atmosphere - abstracts of the fifth 
269(20), 2260-2263. (2011). Hughes, C.E., Crawford, J., Hollins, S.E. CAWCR Workshop, CAWCR Technical 
Precipitation isotopes in the Sydney Report No. 044, pp.42. (2011).
Harrison, J. J., Zawadzki, A. W., Chisari, Region. 11th Australasian Environmental 
R.and Wong, H., Rapid determination Isotope Conference and 4th Australasian Kirstein, O., Zhang, J. F., Kisi, E. H., 
of uranium, thorium, plutonium, Hydrogeology Research Conference, Riley, D. F., Ab Initio Phonon Dispersion 
americium and strontium activities in 12th-14th July 2011, Cairns, Australia. In Curves Used to Check Experimentally 
water, soil and vegetation. South Pacific 11th Australasian Environmental Isotope Determined Elastic Constants of the 
Environmental Radioactivity Association Conference and 4th Australasian MAX Phase Ti3SiC2. International 
2008 conference (SPERA 2008), 23th- Hydrogeology Research Conference Conference on Structural Integrity and 
27th November 2008. Christchurch, Proceedings, pp. 38. (2011). Failure (SIF2010), 4th - 7th July 2010. 
New Zealand. Journal of Environmental University of Auckland, Auckland, 
Radioactivity, 102(10), 896-900. (2011). Jacobsen, G., Bertuch, F., Sowada, New Zealand. In Advanced Materials 
K., Palmer, T. and Jenkinson, A., Research, 275, 135-138. (2011). 
Hotchkis, M. A. C., Child, D., Fink, D. Radiocarbon dating of linen from an 
and Wallner, A., Investigation of gas Eqyptian mummy. 12th International Le V.S., Izard M., Pellegrini P., Zaw M., 
stripping at 4MV for high mass negative Conference on Accelerator Mass Development of 68Ga Generator at 
ions. 12th International Conference on Spectrometry (AMS 12), 20th - 25th ANSTO. 1st World Congress on Ga-68 
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS March 2011. Museum of New Zealand: and Peptide Receptor Radionuclide 
12), 20th - 25th March 2011. Museum Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Therapy, THERANOSTICS, 23th -26th 
of New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa, Zealand. (2011). June 2011. Bad Berka, Germany. In 
Wellington, New Zealand. (2011). World Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 
Joseph, D., Scott, K., Greene, R., Abstracts of Poster Presentations 
Hua, Q., Ulm, S., Levchenko, V., Fash, Stelcer, E., Assessment of Aeolian (Chemistry), 10(1), 73-89, P-023. (2011). 
W. L., Agurcia, R., Sharer, R., Traxler, Dust Properties in the Port Hedland 
L., Petchey, F., Reliable AMS ages for Area and Implications for Future Air Loh, Z. M., Law, R. M., Corbin, K. D., 
Mayan structures at Copán, Honduras Quality Management Strategies. 20th Steele, L. P., Krummel, P. B., Fraser, P. 
based on Spondylus sp. marine shells. International Clean Air and Environment J., Zahorowski, W., Methane simulations 
12th International Conference on Conference (CASANZ 2011), 31 at Cape Grim to assess methane flux 
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS July-2nd August 2011, Auckland, New estimates for South east Australia. The 
12), 20th - 25th March 2011. Museum Zealand. (2011). atmosphere and incorporating the Cape 
of New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa, Grim Annual Science Meeting (The fifith 
Wellington, New Zealand. (2011). Joy, K., Carson, N., Fink, D., Storey, B., CAWCR Workshop), 15th-17th Noverber 
In situ cosmogenic exposure dating in 2011. Melbourne, Australia. In Keith, A. 
Hua, Q., Webb, G., Zhao, J-x., the Meirs and Garwood valleys, Denton D. and Holis, A. J. (Eds). Composition 
Nothdurft, L., Price, G., Variations in Hills, Antarctica, 12th International of the atmosphere - abstracts of the fifth 
marine reservoir corrections for the Conference on Accelerator Mass CAWCR Workshop, CAWCR Technical 
Great Barrier Reef during the last 7000 Spectrometry (AMS 12), 20th - 25th Report No. 044, pp.48. (2011).
years. 12th International Conference on March 2011. Museum of New Zealand: 
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New 
12), 20th - 25th March 2011. Museum Zealand. (2011). 
of New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa, 
Wellington, New Zealand. (2011).
 ANSTO Research Selections 2012   | 131
 
ANSTO publications 2011
McLean, W., Meredith, K., McPhail, Morrison, T., Rayburg, S., Hughes, C., Olivero, P., Forneris, J., Gamarra, P., 
D. C., Norman, M. D., Horner, K. N., A combined hydrodynamic and mixing Jaksic, M., Giudice, A. L., Manfredotti, 
McDonald, J. G., Impacts of extraction model approach to quantify small saline C., Pastuovic, Z., Skukan, N., Vittone, 
on radiocarbon ages in the Lower groundwater input into rivers. The XXV E., Monte Carlo analysis of a lateral 
Murrumbidgee catchment. 11th IUGG General Assembly Earth ob the IBIC experiment on a 4H-SiC Schottkey 
Australasian Environmental Isotope edge: Science for a sustainable planet diode. 12th International Conference 
Conference and 4th Australasian (IUGG 2011), 28th June-7th July 2011. on Nuclear Microprobe Technology and 
Hydrogeology Research Conference, Melbourne, Australia. In Abesser , C. Applications Nuclear Instruments and 
12th-14th July 2011. Cairns, Australia. In et al (Eds) Conceptual and Modelling Methods (ICNMTA 2010), 26th-30th July 
11th Australasian Environmental Isotope Studies of Integrated Groundwater, 2010. Leipzing, Germany. In Nuclear 
Conference and 4th Australasian Surface Water, and Ecological Systems, Instruments and Methods in Physics 
Hydrogeology Research Conference IAHS Publication Vol,345. pp69-74. Research Section B: Beam Interactions 
Proceedings, pp. 44. (2011). IAHS Press, Wallingford Oxfordshire, with Materials and Atoms, 269(20), 
UK. (2011). 2350-2354. (2011).
Meredith, K., McLean, W., Norman, M., 
Identifying groundwater end-members Mume, E., Uedono, A., Mizunaga, G., Payne, T. E., Brendler, V., Nebelung, 
using stable isotopes of silica (δ30Si) Lynch, D. E., Smith, S. V., The role of C. and Comarmond, M. J., Applicability 
in the Lower Namoi Valley, New South Positrons Annihilation Lifetime Studies of surface area normalised distribution 
Wales. 11th Australasian Environmental and nuclear sensors for characterising coefficients (Ka) in interpreting 
Isotope Conference and 4th Australasian porous materials. 12th International measurements of radionuclide 
Hydrogeology Research Conference, Workshop on Slow Positron Beam sorption. South Pacific Environmental 
12th-14th July 2011. Cairns, Australia. In Techniques (SLOPOS12), 1st-6th Radioactivity Association 2008 
11th Australasian Environmental Isotope August 2010. Magnetic Island, Australia. conference (SPERA 2008), 23th-27th 
Conference and 4th Australasian In Journal of Physics: Conference November 2008. Christchurch, New 
Hydrogeology Research Conference Series 262, 12040. (2011). Zealand. In Journal of Environmental 
Proceedings, pp. 46. (2011). Radioactivity, 102(10), 888-895. (2011).
Murugaraj, P., Kumar, N., Jakubov, T. 
Mifsud C., Fujioka T., Fink D., Extraction S., Mainwaring, D. E. and Siegele, R., Pham, B., Guagliardo, P., Williams, 
and Purification of Quartz Using Probing the structure of nanochannal J., Samarin, S., Smith, S. V., A study 
Phosphoric Acid. 12th International arrays by electrostatic force of porosity of synthetic polymer 
Conference on Accelerator Mass microscopy, International Conference nanoparticles using PALS. 12th 
Spectrometry (AMS 12), 20th - 25th Nanomeeting-2011, 24th-27th May 2011. International Workshop on Slow 
March 2011. Museum of New Zealand: Minsk, Belarus. In Physics, Chemistry Positron Beam Techniques (SLOPOS 
Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New and Applications of Nanostructures: 12), 1st - 6th August, 2010. Magnetic 
Zealand. (2011). Proceedings of International Conference Island, Australia. In Journal of Physics: 
Nanomeeting-2011, pp.241-244. (2011). Conference Series 262, 12048. (2011).
Minakshi, M., Singh, P., Martin, D., 
Appadoo, D., Blackford, M. and Ionescu, Nambiar, M., Evans, P. J., Triani, G., Reardon-Smith, K.M., Le Brocque, A.F., 
M., LiNiP04 Aqueous Rechargeable Shaper, J. G., Losic, D. Study of titania Hollins, S., Silburn, D.M. Using stable 
Battery, 219th International ECS modified porous alumina membranes isotopes to identify soil moisture sources 
Meeting, 1st-6th May 2011,Montreal, for protein transport and separation, of key species in riparian woodlands of 
Canada. In ECS Transactions, Chemca 2011: Engineering a Better the northern Murray-Darling Basin. 11th 
Vol.35(32), 281-292. (2011). World, 18th – 21th September, 2011, Australasian Environmental Isotope 
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, In Conference and 4th Australasian 
Minami, M., Miyata, Y., Nakamura, T., Proceedings of Chemca 2011, pp. 584. Hydrogeology Research Conference, 
Hua, Q., A first step toward small-mass (2011). 12th-14th July 2011, Cairns, Australia. In 
AMS radiocarbon analysis at Nagoya 11th Australasian Environmental Isotope 
University. 12th International Conference Olivero, P., Forneris, J., Jaksic, M., Conference and 4th Australasian 
on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Pastuovic, Z., Picollo, F., N. Skukan, Hydrogeology Research Conference 
(AMS 12), 20th - 25th March 2011. N., Vittone, E., Focused ion beam Proceedings, pp. 122. (2011). 
Museum of New Zealand: Te Papa fabrication and IBIC characterisation of a 
Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand. diamond detector with buried electrodes. Ryan, M., Newnham, R. M., Dunbar, 
(2011). 12th International Conference on G., Vandergoes, M., Neil, H., Bostock, 
Nuclear Microprobe Technology and H., Mid-Late Quaternary vegetation 
Morrision, A. N., Peter, F., Stelcer, E., Applications Nuclear Instruments and and climate change reconstructed 
Cohen D., Haberlah, D., Quantifying Methods (ICNMTA 2010), 26th-30th July from palynology of marine cores off 
Respirable Crystalline Silica in the 2010. Leipzing, Germany. In Nuclear southwestern New Zealand. 18th 
Ambient Air of the Hunter Valley, Instruments and Methods in Physics International Union for Quaternary 
Nsw – Sorting The Silica From The Research Section B: Beam Interactions Research Congress, 21th-27th July 
Silicon. 20th International Clean Air and with Materials and Atoms, 269(20), 2011, Berne Switzerland.(2011).
Environment Conference (CASANZ 2340-2344. (2011). 
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Auckland, New Zealand. (2011).
132 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
 
Salim, N. V., Hanley, T., Guo, Q. Varasanec, M., I. Radovic, I. B., Williams, S., Goff, J., Chagué -Goff, 
Microphase separation in double Pastuovic, Z., Jaksic, M., Creation C., Prasetya, G., Cheung, K.F., 
crystalline poly (ethylene oxide)- of microstructures using heavy ion Davies, T., Wilson, T., Characterising 
block-poly (caprolactone)/poly (4-vinyl beam lithography. 12th International diagnostic proxies for identifying 
phenol) blends. The Fifth International Conference on Nuclear Microprobe palaeotsunamis in a tropical 
Symposium on the Separation and Technology and Applications Nuclear climatic regime, Samoan Islands. 
Characterization of Natural and Instruments and Methods (ICNMTA OCEANS ‘11 MTS/IEEE KONA 
Synthetic Macromolecules, 26th – 28th 2010), 26th-30th July 2010. Leipzing, (Oceans of Opportunity: International 
January 2011, Rhône Congress Centre, Germany. In Nuclear Instruments and cooperation and partnership across 
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, In P.G. Methods in Physics Research Section the Pacific), 19th-22th September 
Verschuren and T. Aalbers (Eds), SCM-5 B: Beam Interactions with Materials and 2011. Hilton Waikoloa Village, Kona, 
Fifth International Symposium on the Atoms, 269(20), 2413-2416. (2011). Hawaii. In Proceedings of the MTS/
Separation and Characterization of IEEE Oceans 2011 Conference, 
Natural and Synthetic Macromolecules: Vorontsov, V.A., Voskoboinikov, R.E. & INSPEC Accession Number: 
Book of Abstracts. (2011). Rae, C.M.F., Prediction of Mechanical 12485352. (2011).
Behaviour in Ni-Base Superalloys Using 
Sellaiyan, S., Smith, S. V., Hughes, the Phase Field Model of Dislocations. Wilson, A., Fainerman-Melnikova, 
A.E., Miller, A., Jenkins, D. R., 2010 European Symposium on M. and Soldenhoff, K.,, What are the 
Uedono, A., Understanding the effect Superalloys and their Applications, Options for an Integrated IX Process 
of nanoporosity on optimizing the 25th-28th May, 2010. Wildbach Kreuth, to Recover Uranium from Saline 
performance of self-healing materials Germany. In Advanced Materials and Hypersaline Liquors. ALTA 2011 
for anti-corrosion applications. 12th Research, 278, 150. (2011). Uranium Conference, 23th-27th May 
International Workshop on Slow 2011. Burswood Convention Centre 
Positron Beam Techniques (SLOPOS Wallner, A., Buczak, K., Plompen, A., in Perth, Western Australia. In ALTA 
12), 1st - 6th August, 2010. Magnetic Schumann, D., Semkova, V., New exotic 2011 Uranium - 7 Proceedings, p. 
Island, Australia. In Journal of Physics: and non-standard radionuclides in 116, published by ALTA Metallurgical 
Conference Series 262, 12054. (2011). AMS. 12th International Conference on Services. (2011). 
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS 
Simon K., Pedro J., Smith A.M., 12), 20th - 25th March 2011. Museum Yang, B., Smith, A., Hua, Q. A cold 
Child D., Fink D., Reprocessing of of New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa, finger cooling system for the efficient 
10B-contaminated 10Be AMS targets. Wellington, New Zealand. (2011). graphitisation of microgramsized 
12th International Conference on carbon samples. 12th International 
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS Wang, J. L., Campbell, S.J., Cadogan, Conference on Accelerator Mass 
12), 20th - 25th March 2011. Museum J. M., Studer, A.J., Zeng, R. and Dou, Spectrometry (AMS 12), 20th - 
of New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa, S.X., Neutron diffraction study of the 25th March 2011. Museum of New 
Wellington, New Zealand. (2011). magnetic order in NdMn2Ge1.6Si0.4. Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa, 
Joint European Magnetic Symposia Wellington, New Zealand. (2011).
Smith, S. V., The role of nuclear (JEMS 2010), 23th-28th August 2010. 
sensors and positrons for engineering Krakow, Poland. In Journal of Physics: Zahorowski, W., Williams, A. G., 
nano and microtechnologies. 12th Conference Series, 303(1), Art. No. Chambers, S., Griffiths, A., Crawford, 
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Positron Beam Techniques (SLOPOS Vertical radon-222 profiles in the 
12), 1st - 6th August, 2010. Magnetic Waring, C., Falahat, S. and Watt, G., atmospheric boundary layer. The 
Island, Australia. In Journal of Physics: What can you measure with neutron atmosphere and incorporating the 
Conference Series 262, 12055. (2011). activation analysis? Global Workshop Cape Grim Annual Science Meeting 
Proximal Soil Sensing, 15th-18th May (The fifith CAWCR Workshop), 15th-
Stelcer, E., Morrison, M. A., Atanaciao, 2011. Montreal, Canada. In Proceedings 17th Noverber 2011. Melbourne, 
A. J. and Cohenhe, D. D., PIXE 2nd Global Workshop Proximal Soil Australia. In Keith, A. D. and Holis, 
ANALYSIS OF MOUDI FILTERS. 20th Sensing, V.I. Adamchuk, R.A. Viscarra- A. J. (Eds). Composition of the 
International Clean Air and Environment Rossel (Ed.), pp. 120-123. (2011). atmosphere - abstracts of the 
Conference (CASANZ 2011), 31 fifth CAWCR Workshop, CAWCR 
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ANSTO publications 2011
Zhao, M., Yang, X., Church, T.L. 
and Harris, A.T., Interaction between 
a bimetallic Ni-Co catalyst and 
micrometer-sized CaO for enhanced 
H2 production during cellulose 
decomposition. 11th International 
Conference: Hydrogen Materials 
Science & Chemistry of Carbon 
Nanomaterials (ICHMS’2009), 25th-31th 
August 2009. Yalta-Crimea, Ukraine. 
In International Journal of Hydrogen 
Energy, 36(1), 421-431. (2011). 
Zhu, H., Wei, T., Harrison, R., Edwards, 
L., & Maruyama, K., Development of 
oxide dispersion strengthened steels 
for high temperature nuclear structural 
applications, Fifth World Congress 
on Engineering Asset Management 
(WCEAM-AGIC 2010), 25th -27th 2010, 
Brisbane Queensland, Australia. in 
Mathew. J; Ma. M; Tan. A; Weijnen. Lee, 
J (Eds). Engineering Asset Management 
and Infrastructure Sustainability, pp. 
1147 -1160, Springer-Verlag London. 
(2011).
Front cover images (clockwise from bottom right): the OPAL research reactor pool; Karina Meredith working in the Isotope 
Ratio Mass Spectrometry Laboratory (p.34); Ramin Rafiei with a new generation radiation detector (p.96); an artist’s impression 
(David S. Goodsell 1999) of molecules in a slice of an E. coli cell (p.12); Tegan Evans working within the confines of a glove box 
(p.93); James Doutch (left) and Elliot Gilbert preparing the Rapid Visco Analysis for use on the Quokka SANS instrument (p.28). 
Back cover images (clockwise from bottom right): the OPAL research reactor building; Winnie Kam in the laboratory studying 
the effect of the translocator protein in diseases such as schizophrenia and psychosis (p.20); Michael Hotchkis in front of the 
ANTARES accelerator (p.46); ANSTO staff viewing the OPAL reactor pool; (centre) part of the titanium roofing of the OPAL 
reactor building.
134 |   ANSTO Research Selections 2012
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Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC NSW 2232.
ANSTO August 2012
www.ansto.gov.au