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This water is so amazing! How can heavy water with oxygen-18 and tritium be 30% heavier than ordinary water?
Water is indispensable in our daily life. However, many people are not aware that the chemical structure of water can vary depending on the isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen it contains. Oxygen-18 and tritium combine to form a special type of heavy water, which is about 30% heavier than ordinary water. Such heavy water not only plays an important role in scientific experiments, but also provides key data for our research on environmental changes.
Oxygen-18 (18O) is a stable natural isotope and one of the environmental isotopes that is crucial to many scientific studies.
Characteristics and applications of oxygen-18
Oxygen-18 is a relatively rare isotope that occurs naturally in water. Its abundance is about 0.2%, and its stability makes it ideal for scientific research. In the radiopharmaceutical industry, oxygen-18 is used to produce fluorine-18, a radioisotope commonly used in positron emission tomography (PET).
During the production process, oxygen-18-rich water (H2Ω) is bombarded with high-energy protons to produce fluorine-18. This fluorine-18 is then synthesized into fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and injected into the patient for imaging. In such applications, special heavy water is particularly important because its density is much higher than that of ordinary water, which makes it irreplaceable in scientific research.
Importance in paleoclimatology
Oxygen-18 also plays an important role in paleoclimatology. Scientists can track ancient climate changes by analyzing the ratio of oxygen-18 to oxygen-16 in ice cores. This process is called δ18O analysis. Assuming that the polar climate and environment do not change much, scientists can obtain past climate data by calculating the temperatures at which the ice formed.
An experiment conducted by Harold Urey in the 1950s showing how paleoclimate could be analyzed by mixing normal water and water containing oxygen-18.
Scientists can also measure ancient temperatures through the ratios of oxygen isotopes found in fossils. Fossils of plants and animals as they grew can provide us with detailed information about past environments, which is important for understanding changes in ecosystems.
Applications in plant physiology
In plant physiology, oxygen-18 is also used to study plant photorespiration. By labeling oxygen-18 around plants, scientists can measure the absorption and release of oxygen during photosynthesis. Studies have shown that in pre-industrial times, most of the oxygen produced by plants during photosynthesis was reabsorbed through photorespiration, which had a direct impact on plant growth and yield.
Production process of fluorine-18
The production of fluorine-18 usually requires bombarding water containing oxygen-18 with high-energy protons. This process requires highly sophisticated equipment such as a cyclotron or linear accelerator. Such a production process not only requires the creator to precisely control various variables, but also requires the output solution to be purified to remove impurities to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the final synthesized radioactive drug.
For example, a 90-minute treatment can utilize 2 mL of oxygen-18 enriched water produced by passing it through Titanium cells.
Closing Thoughts
Do you now have a deeper understanding of this magical heavy water? The combination of oxygen-18 and tritium not only changed our understanding of water, but also opened new doors for scientific research. Looking to the future, such scientific exploration will raise more new questions. Perhaps what we should think about is: Are there other unknown isotopes that can bring major breakthroughs to our scientific research in the future?
