Preparation of nanoparticle based aerogel scintillators for real-time radioactive gas detection
Résumé
The measurement of pure β emitting radioactive gases such as 3H and 85Kr is already of major importance for the nuclear safety authorities, and will meet an increasing demand with the expansion of nuclear-based energy production. Due to the short penetration length of β electrons in air, gaseous β emitters must be mixed with radiosensitive elements to enable detection. These are either gas-gas mixtures in an ionization chamber, or gas-liquid mixtures in liquid scintillation. However, none of these existing methods combine real-time analysis, sensitivity to multiple gases, and ease of deployment for on-site measurements.
We demonstrate a new gas-solid mixture approach using inorganic aerogels as nanoporous scintillators. This method combines the above criteria, allowing efficient real-time measurement of 3H and 85Kr activity. This presentation will focus on the preparation of scintillating aerogels, from the 10g-scale synthesis of scintillating nanoparticles to supercritical drying of nanoparticle gels into aerogels. This preparation method has been successfully applied to different scintillating nanomaterials.