Moessbauer spectroscopy with a high velocity resolution: advances in biomedical, pharmaceutical, cosmochemical and nano technological research

Full text: Velocity resolution is a term denoted the smallest velocity step (2V/2n) in velocity driving system of Moessbauer spectrometer and velocity step for the one point in Moessbauer spectrum. Velocity resolution coefficient 1/2n in velocity driving system is constant and velocity resolution value depends on velocity range (2V) only while velocity resolution in Moessbauer spectrum may be the same or less. Moessbauer spectroscopy with a high velocity resolution is a new method to measure precision high quality spectra. It is well known that one of the main parts of Moessbauer spectrometer is velocity driving system. Usual spectrometers are used sinusoidal or triangular velocity reference signal and 256 or 512 channels to form velocity signal. Such velocity driving system provides spectra measurement with a low velocity resolution (2n=256 or 512 channels) with possibility to decrease measurement time and reach needed signal/noise ratio by spectra folding on the direct and reverse motion. However, these driving systems do not provide a low systematic error for velocity signal while folding increases integral velocity error due to different velocity errors on the direct and reverse motions. These problems can be neglected if a high precision is not required for spectra measurement. Nevertheless, further development of Moessbauer spectroscopy may be related to increase in precision and quality of spectra measurement with less instrumental (systematic) velocity error and to increase in velocity resolution for both spectrometer and spectrum. A new velocity driving system was developed for Moessbauer spectrometer SM- 2201. This system uses saw-tooth shape velocity reference signal and 2n=4096 channels to form velocity signal. On the basis of SM-2201 and liquid nitrogen cryostat with moving absorber and temperature variation in the range of 295-85 K a new automated precision Moessbauer spectrometric system with a high velocity resolution was created. Characteristics of this system demonstrated a high stability, precision and accuracy in the measurement of Moessbauer spectra in 4096 channels. In spite of substantial increase in the measurement time, spectra measured with a high velocity resolution permitted to obtain Moessbauer hyperfine parameters with systematic errors at least 8 times less than in the case of spectra measurement in 512 channels as well as to fit complicated Moessbauer spectra with better quality. Various applications of Moessbauer spectroscopy with a high velocity resolution demonstrated new possibilities of technique. Biomedical applications. New results were obtained in the study of human liver ferritin, its pharmaceutically important models as well as liver and spleen tissues from normal and leukemia chicken; in comparative study of various human and animals' normal oxyhemoglobins and oxyhemoglobins from patients; in the study of iron containing pharmaceutical products. Cosmochemical applications. In the study of various meteorites new results were obtained in analysis of Fe-Ni alloys with variations in Ni concentration, in the study of silicate phases and Fe-Ni phosphides with crystallographically non-equivalent sites for Fe. Nanotechnological applications. New results were obtained in the study of cupric ferrite nanoparticles with tin oxide adding as well as in the study of ferric oxide nanoparticles developed for magnetic fluids for biomedical purposes. (author)