Fabrication of Liquid Scintillators Loaded with 6-Phenylhexanoic Acid-Modified ZrO2 Nanoparticles for Observation of Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay
| Autor: | Akito Watanabe, Arisa Magi, Akira Yoko, Gimyeong Seong, Takaaki Tomai, Tadafumi Adschiri, Yamato Hayashi, Masanori Koshimizu, Yutaka Fujimoto, Keisuke Asai |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Nanomaterials, Vol 11, Iss 5, p 1124 (2021) |
| Druh dokumentu: | article |
| ISSN: | 11051124 2079-4991 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/nano11051124 |
| Popis: | The observation of neutrinoless double beta decay is an important issue in nuclear and particle physics. The development of organic liquid scintillators with high transparency and a high concentration of the target isotope would be very useful for neutrinoless double beta decay experiments. Therefore, we propose a liquid scintillator loaded with metal oxide nanoparticles containing the target isotope. In this work, 6-phenylhexanoic acid-modified ZrO2 nanoparticles, which contain 96Zr as the target isotope, were synthesized under sub/supercritical hydrothermal conditions. The effects of the synthesis temperature on the formation and surface modification of the nanoparticles were investigated. Performing the synthesis at 250 and 300 °C resulted in the formation of nanoparticles with smaller particle sizes and higher surface modification densities than those prepared at 350 and 400 °C. The highest modification density (3.1 ± 0.2 molecules/nm2) and Zr concentration of (0.33 ± 0.04 wt.%) were obtained at 300 °C. The surface-modified ZrO2 nanoparticles were dispersed in a toluene-based liquid scintillator. The liquid scintillator was transparent to the scintillation wavelength, and a clear scintillation peak was confirmed by X-ray-induced radioluminescence spectroscopy. In conclusion, 6-phenylhexanoic acid-modified ZrO2 nanoparticles synthesized at 300 °C are suitable for loading in liquid scintillators. |
| Databáze: | Directory of Open Access Journals |
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