Thermoluminesence of gamma rays irradiated CaSO4 nanorods doped with different elements

• Nanorods of CaSO4 activated by Ag, Cu, Dy, Eu and Tb were synthesized.
• They were studied for their TL response to a wide range of γ-rays.
• The doped samples with Dy, Eu and Tb have thinner nanorods than the others.
• Tb doped sample is found to be a highly TL sensitive with a glow peak at 270 °C.
• Eu doped sample has a linear TL response in the range i.e. 10 Gy–10 kGy.

Nanorods of calcium sulfate (CaSO4) activated by Ag, Cu, Dy, Eu and Tb were synthesized by the co-precipitation technique. They were irradiated by γ-rays in a wide range of exposures and studied for their thermoluminesence (TL) properties. The as-synthesized samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL) emission spectra. SEM images show that the samples doped with rare earths elements (i.e. Dy, Eu and Tb) have thinner nanorods than the other samples, while XRD pattern shows a complete crystalline structures in a monoclinic phase. The TL glow curves of these samples show two components. The first one include low temperature glow peaks at around 125 °C, while the second component shows high temperature peaks in the range 230–270 °C. These glow peaks diver from sample to sample by their TL intensity. The TL results are promising, particularly that of Tb and Eu. Tb doped sample is found to be a highly TL sensitive with a prominent glow peak at around 270 °C, while Eu has created very active, high dense electron traps. The later shows quite linear response in the whole studied exposures i.e. 10 Gy–10 kGy. These results show that Eu or Tb doped CaSO4 nanorods might be proper candidates as dosimeters for high doses of ionizing radiations used in irradiation of foods and seeds.