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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 …


Alkane Adsorption On Mgo(100): Volumetric Isotherm, Inelastic Neutron Scattering, And Computational Studies, Andrew Spencer Hicks May 2013

Alkane Adsorption On Mgo(100): Volumetric Isotherm, Inelastic Neutron Scattering, And Computational Studies, Andrew Spencer Hicks

Doctoral Dissertations

Volumetric adsorption isotherms and computational molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed for nonane and decane adfilms on MgO(100) nanocubes. From the isotherms, variety of thermodynamic quantities are calculated. These values, along with visual inspection of the isotherms, indicate a layer by layer trend from 2D to 3D behavior. This is attributed to the increasing importance of vertical adsorbate-adsorbate interactions as distance from the surface increases. Additionally, a 2D phase transition is observed for the first adsorbed layer as indicated by the evolution of the widths of the isotherm first derivative peaks. These experimental results are complemented by the MD calculations, …