Deuterium Oxide

Deuterium oxide, also known as “heavy water” or “deuterium water”, is a molecule composed of two atoms of Deuterium and one atom of Oxygen. It is called heavy water because its density is greater than H₂O, and its chemical formula is D₂O. High purity Deuterium Oxide (99.8% – 99.9% purity), also known as Heavy Water. Deuterium is an isotope of Hydrogen. As in a molecule of ‘normal’ water, two Hydrogen atoms are bound to an Oxygen atom. When the Hydrogen atoms are replaced with Deuterium, you’ve got Heavy water. Unlike the other isotope of Hydrogen known as Tritium, Deuterium is not radioactive. Deuterium Oxide is about 10% heavier than ordinary water (which is why it got the trade name of Heavy Water). Deuterium Oxide is often used to moderate Neutrons in nuclear reactors. It is somewhat slower evaporating than ordinary water and occasionally used in formulations where a slower evaporation time is useful. An ice cube made of Deuterium Oxide sinks in normal water. You can easily make pure Deuterium gas for Fusor experiments, etc. by running DC current through it and collecting the gas (electrolysis).

Applications

• • Deuterium oxide is used in pharmacology where H/D substitution increases the half-life of the pharmaceutical agent often favourably affecting the pharmacokinetics of the drug.
  • Deuterium oxide can be used as vaccine stabilizing reagent.
  • Deuteration may also change the pathway of drug metabolism (metabolic switching). Changed metabolism may lead to increased duration of action and lower toxicity.
  • DeutraMed further supports customers who require reduced bioburden in their D₂O by offering BioPureᵀᴹ product. Learn more about BioPureTM D₂O here.
  • Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) – The hydrogen/deuterium primary kinetic isotope effect provides useful information about the degradation mechanism of OLED materials.
  • Optical Fibers – In optical fibers deuterium extracted from D₂O and deposited to Si reduces the absorption losses by shifting them to the 1620nm wavelength, which is outside of normal operating range, greatly enhancing the optical fiber service life and efficiency.
  • Deuterium oxide is routinely used in the process of heavy water electrolysis for the production of deuterium gas that is essential for semiconductor industries. For example, replacing hydrogen with deuterium greatly reduces hot-electron degradation effects in metal oxide semiconductor transistors due to the isotope kinetic effect.
  • Transistor lifetime improvements by factors of 10-50 have been reported.