无机材料学报

• 研究论文 •    

填充LiF-CaF₂:Eu共晶粉体的有机-无机复合闪烁体制备与表征

周琦1,2, 李翔2, 张开辉1,2, 王泽亮3, 邓明雪2, 贾文宝3, 王珂1, 陈俊锋1,2   

  1. 1.上海理工大学 材料与化学学院,上海 200093;
    2.中国科学院 上海硅酸盐研究所,功能晶体与器件全国重点实验室,上海 201899;
    3.南京航空航天大学 材料科学与技术学院,南京 211106
  • 收稿日期:2025-04-18 修回日期:2025-05-23
  • 作者简介:周 琦(2000-), 男, 硕士研究生. E-mail: zqis97@163.com
  • 基金资助:
    中国科学院战略性先导科技专项(XDA25030600); 国家重点研发计划(2022YFB3503902); 强脉冲辐射环境模拟与效应国家重点实验室开放课题(SKLIPR1714)

Preparation and Characterization of Organic-Inorganic Composite Scintillators Loaded with LiF-CaF2:Eu Eutectic Powder

ZHOU Qi1,2, LI Xiang2, ZHANG Kaihui1,2, WANG Zeliang3, DENG Mingxue2, JIA Wenbao3, WANG Ke1, CHEN Junfeng1,2   

  1. 1. School of Materials and Chemistry, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China;
    2. State Key Laboratory of Functional Crystals and Devices, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201899, China;
    3. College of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China
  • Received:2025-04-18 Revised:2025-05-23
  • About author:ZHOU Qi (2000-), male, Master candidate. E-mail: zqis97@163.com
  • Supported by:
    Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA25030600); National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFB3503902); Opening Program of State Key Lab of Intense Pulsed Radiation Simulation and Effect (SKLIPR1714)

摘要: 热中子技术在核物理、核安全、核能开发、工业无损检测及国土安全等各个领域有广泛应用,亟需发展高效的热中子探测闪烁体。已商业化的许多热中子探测闪烁体,在性能和生产成本方面仍面临诸多发展挑战,由于有机-无机复合闪烁体具有制备简易、成本低廉、组分组合灵活等突出优势,近期受到越来越多的关注。本研究通过将固相合成的LiF-CaF₂:Eu共晶粉体,以质量分数0~20%的含量均匀分散在有机苯乙烯基体中,成功制备出一系列热中子敏感的有机-无机复合闪烁体。本工作分析了合成的LiF-CaF₂:Eu共晶粉体的XRD物相图、扫描电子显微镜形貌和元素分布,评价了该系列有机-无机复合闪烁体的辐射发光和光学透射特性。采用镉差法和脉冲形状甄别技术,较为系统地评价了填充天然丰度Li的LiF-CaF₂:Eu和6Li富集度为95%的6LiF-CaF₂:Eu共晶粉体复合闪烁体的热中子探测性能。与填充LiF/CaF₂:Eu的混合粉体相比,填充LiF-CaF₂:Eu共晶粉体的复合闪烁体具有更好的光透过性能和更高的辐射发光强度。随着LiF-CaF₂:Eu共晶粉体填充量的增加,复合闪烁体的辐射发光强度逐渐升高。提高6Li丰度能有效提高热中子探测效率,复合闪烁体的热中子/伽马甄别品质因数可达到2.64。作为一种具有较好应用潜力的新型闪烁体,填充LiF-CaF₂:Eu共晶粉体的复合闪烁体具有较为优异的热中子探测效率和热中子/伽马甄别能力。

关键词: 复合闪烁体, 热中子探测, LiF-CaF2:Eu, 共晶, 甄别

Abstract: Thermal neutron technology is widely applied in many fields, such as homeland security, nuclear non-proliferation, nuclear energy development, industrial nondestructive testing, and nuclear physics research. It is urgent to develop efficient materials for thermal neutron detection. Existing commercially available thermal neutron detection materials still face many developmental challenges in terms of detecting performance and manufacturing cost. Due to the prominent advantages of organic-inorganic composite scintillators, such as simple preparation, low cost, and flexible composition combination, they have recently received increasing attention. In this study, we successfully prepared a series of organic-inorganic composite scintillators sensitive to thermal neutrons by uniformly dispersing 0-20% (in mass) of LiF-CaF₂:Eu eutectic powder, synthesized via solid-state reaction, in organic polystyrene (PS) matrixes. The XRD patterns, SEM morphologies, and elemental distributions of the synthesized LiF-CaF₂:Eu eutectic powder were analyzed. The radioluminescence (RL) and optical transmittance (OT) of the prepared composite scintillators were evaluated, and comparisons were made between LiF-CaF₂:Eu eutectic powder and LiF/CaF₂:Eu mixed powder as inorganic additives. Using the cadmium difference method (CDM) and pulse shape discrimination (PSD) technologies, the thermal neutron detection performance of composite scintillators loaded with LiF-CaF₂:Eu (natural Li abundance) and ⁶LiF-CaF₂:Eu (95% enriched ⁶Li) eutectic powder was systematically investigated. Compared to composites filled with LiF/CaF₂:Eu mixed powder, those filled with LiF-CaF₂:Eu eutectic powder exhibited better optical transmittance and higher radiation luminescence intensity, which increased with the addition of more eutectic powder. Increasing the abundance of 6Li can effectively improve thermal neutron detection efficiency, and the figure of merit (FOM) for thermal neutron/gamma discrimination in composite scintillators can reach 2.64. As a promising novel scintillator for thermal neutron detection, the composite scintillators loaded with LiF-CaF₂:Eu eutectic powder show excellent thermal neutron detection and thermal neutron/gamma differentiation.

Key words: composite scintillator, thermal neutron detection, LiF-CaF2:Eu, eutectic, discrimination

中图分类号: