Optical Materials for Sensing Radioactive Elements

To meet the current energy requirement, nuclear energy is one of the important resources. Also, many radionuclides are being used in medical industries, agricultural industries, and food packaging. These activities may increase the chances of radionuclide exposure in the environment leading to environmental pollution that may ultimately affect human health. Keeping this view in mind, it is important to develop an in situ probe for radionuclide detection with utmost selectivity and ultra-low detection limit. In this chapter, we have described the optical methods developed for radioactive material sensing. We have majorly described the materials developed for uranium detection because of their prime importance in the nuclear industry and high chemical toxicity and discussed their advantages and limitations.