Influence of preparation parameters on the synthesis of plastic scintillation microspheres and evaluation of sample preparation

Scintillation and structural properties of copolymers and mixtures of styrene, 9-vinylcarbazole and 4-vinylbenzyl chloride based plastic scintillators

The research team has developed new plastic scintillators in the form of microspheres, called PSm, by combining styrene, 9-vinylcarbazole (VK), and 4-vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC). The primary objective of this study was to explore the feasibility of incorporating the fluorescent solute (VK) into the polymer structure to prevent its leaching out when PSm are utilized in liquid flow through detection systems or organic solvents. The secondary aim was to examine the impact of adding the chlorine functional group to the scintillation polymer, with the intention of replacing it with an extractant in the future to create covalently linked PSresins. The findings of the study reveal that the homopolymer of polyvinylcarbazole (PVK) performs poorly while used as a unitary scintillator system for plastic scintillation measurements. However, the incorporation of monomers in the form of copolymers with styrene has a more significant impact on scintillation properties compared to the mixture of homopolymers. In the case of 9-vinylcarbazole (VK), its presence at a weight proportion of 10% leads to an increase in scintillation efficiencies, although it is still inferior to the classical PS. Conversely, the situation is different for 4-vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC), where the chlorine in the copolymer results in higher quenching, and the polymer is also less resistant to organic solvents due to the formation of short polymer chains. For VBC, the mixture of polymers yields better results and enables the production of covalently linked PSresins.

A comparison of different approaches for the analysis of 36Cl in graphite samples

This study compares different approaches for the quantification of the massic activity of 36Cl in graphite samples. All approaches consisted of a combustion step in combination with a trapping solution to collect the volatile elements. Two different resins were used to separate 36Cl from the matrix (CL resin and PS resin). Liquid scintillation counting (LSC), scintillation counting (SC) and tandem inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS/MS) were used to quantify 36Cl activity. The chemical yield in all approaches was determined by means of ion chromatography (IC). In addition, the methods were applied to a real activated graphite sample.