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Materials Chemistry

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Doctoral Dissertations

2013

Scintillators

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

The Development Of Lithium Tetraborate Compounds For Thermal Neutron Detection, John David Auxier Ii Aug 2013

The Development Of Lithium Tetraborate Compounds For Thermal Neutron Detection, John David Auxier Ii

Doctoral Dissertations

Due to the shortage of 3He [helium-3], the goal of this project was to develop replacement materials for slow neutron detection in mixed radiation fields. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) indicated that replacement materials should have an absolute neutron efficiency of 2.5 cps/ng of 252Cf (Californium-252) and a neutron/gamma discrimination intrinsic efficiency of 1 x 10-6 [one gamma-ray response in a million counts]. In this work, the use of amorphous lithium tetraborate (Li2B4O7:Ce) is analyzed as a thermal neutron detector. Also discussed is the synthesis of the lithium tetraborate, …


Neutron Scintillation Detectors Based On Polymers Containing Lithium-6 For Radiation Portal Monitor Applications, Andrew Neil Mabe Aug 2013

Neutron Scintillation Detectors Based On Polymers Containing Lithium-6 For Radiation Portal Monitor Applications, Andrew Neil Mabe

Doctoral Dissertations

The work presented herein describes an investigation of four main types of thin film polymer scintillators containing 6Li [lithium-6] for neutron detection: polystyrene containing 6LiF [lithium-6 fluoride] and a preblended fluor mixture comprising 2,5-diphenyloxazole and 1,4-bis(5-phenyloxazol-2-yl)benzene; poly(styrene-co-lithium maleate) containing salicylic acid; poly[styrene-co-lithium maleate-co-2-phenyl-5-(4-vinylphenyl)oxazole]; and poly(styrene-co-lithium 4-vinylbenzoate). A variety of chemical and physical characterizations as well as optical and scintillation characterizations were performed to guide the development of optimized compositions of each type of polymer film. The scintillation performances of optimized compositions of each type of polymer film were calibrated using …