Lithium-loaded acetone-based novel liquid scintillator

Abstract

Abstract Liquid scintillators are widely used in diverse fields because they can be easily synthesized and offer high light yield. Therefore, developing a stable liquid scintillator is crucial. In this study, we synthesized a novel liquid scintillator using acetone as a base solvent and measured its physical and optical properties. The optimal mixing ratio of acetone, water, and fluors constituting the liquid scintillator was investigated. Although acetone is a polar solution, we noticed that it also exhibits non-polar properties and used it to synthesize lithium-loaded liquid scintillator. This is a completely new method to load lithium by taking advantage of the amphiphilicity of acetone. In addition, neutron and gamma discrimination was attempted by loading enriched $$^{6}$$ Li, which has a large neutron capture cross section. Unlike that in previous studies, no strong hydrochloric acid, surfactants, or any other solubilizing additions are required when loading $$^{6}$$ Li. A 100 ml glass cell was filled with our liquid scintillator and irradiated with $$^{252}$$ Cf radioactive source. For neutron and gamma discrimination, conventional pulse shape discrimination method was used. To the best of our knowledge, no previous study has attempted a liquid scintillator using acetone, and this type of product is not available at all in the current market up to now. Nonetheless, there is still room to improve and potential for a new type of development in this field. We believe that these results have potential applications in next-generation particle, nuclear, and medical physics experiments.

Keywords

• Liquid scintillator
• Acetone
• 6-lithium
• Light yield
• Absorption
• Emission spectrum