Centre of Radiation Research and Technology

Centre of Radiation Research and Technology (CRRT) is the one of 4 departments in the Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology in Warsaw. Research activities of the CRRT focused on basic and applied research in the field of radiation chemistry and physics and development of radiation technologies on a laboratory and pilot plant scale with further adaptation to an industrial scale.

The expertise of the Pulse Radiolysis group in the CRRT is focused on radiation effects in condensed media (aqueous, organic and ionic liquids), with particular emphasis on the identities and molecular structures of short-lived transients and reaction mechanism in biologically relevant systems. The group is currently interested in oxidative and reductive processes occurring in peptides and proteins containing methionine, histidine, and aromatic amino acid residues which are connected with the oxidative and reductive stress. Previous experience was in radiolytically and photochemically induced oxidative radical processes in aliphatic and aromatic thioethers, alcohols, carboxylic acids, amides, and esters containing thioetehr functionality, particularly those involving an interaction of the oxidized sulfur centres with neighboring groups via formation of various 2c/3e bonds ( S∴S, S∴N, and S∴O ), and peptides and proteins containing methionine, tryptophan, and tyrosine coupled with intramolecular electron transfer. These investigations were and are closely accompanied and guided by modern electronic structure theory calculations (ab initio, and DFT).

The group was involved in the Research Training Network SULFRAD (2002-2006) with 4 universities and 2 research institutions from France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, United Kingdom, and Poland (5th FP) and in the COST Programme, Action P9 RADAM (2003 – 2007) with over 20 universities and research institutions from nearly all European countries (6th FP). The group is currently involved in the COST Programme CM0603 CHEMBIO-RADICAL (7th FP) that concerns free radicals chemistry in chemical biology and involves over 15 universities and research institutions from nearly 15 European countries. The research programme of the group has been carried and is still continued based on close bilateral collaboration with many foreign laboratories from Europe, USA (Notre Dame Radiation Laboratory), and Chile. The scientific achievements of the group have been published in many articles in peer-reviewed journals (e. g. J. Am. Chem. Soc., J. Phys. Chem. A and B, Eur. Chem. J., Free Radic. Biol. Med.) and presented on international conferences.

RADICAL CHEMISTRY

Krzysztof BOBROWSKI, Professor of Chemistry, Head of the Pulse Radiolysis Laboratory/Deputy Head of the CRRT, over 30 years, experience in pulse radiolysis and radiation chemistry.
Paweł WISNIOWSKI, PhD, Sen. Res., postdoctoral fellow at the Notre Dame Radiation Laboratory, a specialist in computer chemistry, software programming and installing, over 15 years, experience in pulse radiolysis and radiation chemistry.
Jacek MIRKOWSKI, PhD, electronic engineer, specialist in the computer supported control systems, involved since the origin in the pulse radiolysis set-up project and in its construction at LAE 10, and recently in the development of the ICCD detection.
PhD Student: Gabriel KCIUK.

IONIC LIQUIDS

Jan GRODKOWSKI, PhD, D. Sc, a specialist in ionic liquids, over 30 years, experience in pulse radiolysis and radiation chemistry.
Tomasz SZREDER, PhD, Sen. Res. postdoctoral fellow at Brookhaven National Laboratory, involved in the construction of the laser flash photolysis set-up in the CRRT.
PhD Students: Rafał KOCIA, Malgorzata NYGA, Agnieszka SULICH.

MOLECULAR MODELLING

Dariusz POGOCKI, PhD, D. Sc, a specialist in quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics/molecular dynamics calculations, over 15 years, experience in pulse radiolysis and radiation chemistry.
Marek DANILCZUK, PhD, Sen. Res., (now in USA).
PhD Student: Monika CELUCH, Katarzyna SZPARA.

MAINTENANCE OF LAE 10

Sylwester BUŁKA, M. Sc. electronic engineer, involved in the maintenance of LAE 10, specialist in automatic control and stabilization of accelerator parameters and vacuum technology.
Dariusz PUJDAK, technician, involved in the operation of LAE 10.

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