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Suspension polymerization method for preparing plastic scintillation microspheres

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Abstract

Plastic scintillation microsphere (PSm) is a micron-sized plastic scintillator, and it is an organic scintillation material with good application prospects in the field of radioactivity analysis. However, the lack of simple industrial synthesis methods could limit bulk production of PSm with a reasonable cost. In this study, PSm materials were prepared via suspension polymerization and the repeatability of both the synthesis conditions and the radioactivity measurement performance were evaluated. Results indicated that PSm with a particle size distribution ranged around 90–200 μm can be reproducibly synthesized under certain conditions. Consistent counting efficiency for the 14C measurement in liquid samples using PSm has been obtained as long as sufficient PSm was added into the scintillation vial to completely cover the liquid volume. By comparing the spectral widths of samples with different concentrations of fluors, optimal PPO concentration of 1.5% and bis-MSB concentration of 0.015% was chosen to obtain a good light yield and a counting efficiency of up to 43.3% for 14C in water. Furthermore, it was observed that the 14C counting efficiency of PSm would be significantly affected by the quenching of the solution.

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Acknowledgements

This research has been financially supported by the Youth Fund of China Institute for Radiation Protection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. China Institute for Radiation Protection, 102 Xuefu Street, Taiyuan, 030006, Shanxi Province, China

    Hui Zhang, Lijuan Song, Lusheng Wang, Lina Ma & **ongxin Dai

  2. Shanxi Provincial Key Laboratory for Translational Nuclear Medicine and Precision Protection, 102 Xuefu Street, Taiyuan, 030006, Shanxi Province, China

    Hui Zhang, Lijuan Song, Lusheng Wang, Lina Ma & **ongxin Dai

  3. Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Suzhou, 215006, China

    Lijuan Song, Lusheng Wang & **ongxin Dai

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  1. Hui Zhang
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Correspondence to **ongxin Dai.

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Zhang, H., Song, L., Wang, L. et al. Suspension polymerization method for preparing plastic scintillation microspheres. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 332, 4953–4961 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-023-09159-x

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