Facile Single‐Precursor Synthesis and Surface Modification of Hafnium Oxide Nanoparticles for Nanocomposite γ‐Ray Scintillators
Abstract
Inorganic nanoparticles/polymer nanocomposites provide a low cost, high performance alternative for gamma scintillation. However, inorganic nanoparticles used thus far suffer from either moderate atomic numbers or low band gaps, limiting the gamma stopping power and photoelectron production in these systems. Here, a highly efficient, facile single‐precursor synthesis protocol is reported for hafnium oxide nanoparticles with an average diameter of 5 nm. The nanoparticle surface is further functionalized for the fabrication of highly transparent bulk‐size nanocomposite monoliths (2 mm thick, transmittance at 550 nm >75%) with nanoparticle loadings up to 40 wt% (net hafnium wt% up to 28.5%). Using poly(vinyltoluene) as the matrix, 2‐(4‐tert‐butylphenyl)‐5‐(4‐biphenylyl)‐1,3,4‐oxadiazole and 1,4‐bis(5‐phenyl‐2‐oxazolyl)benzene as the cascade fluors, and hafnium oxide nanoparticles as the gamma sensitizer, the nanocomposite monolith of 1 cm diameter and 2 mm thickness is fabricated capable of producing a full energy photopeak for 662 keV gamma rays, with the best deconvoluted photopeak energy resolution <8%.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jun 12, 2015
- Source ID
- 10.1002/adfm.201501439
Entities
People
- Chao Liu
- David Kishpaugh
- Qi Chen
- Qibing Pei
- Tibor Jacob Hajagos
- Wei Hu
- Yunxia Jin
Organizations
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency
- Fudan University
- National Science Foundation
- University of California
- University of California, Los Angeles