Preparation and optimization of CdWO4-polymer nano-composite film as an alpha particle counter

In this research work, CdWO4/polymer composite films with different thicknesses were prepared using Poly-methyl acrylate polymer and synthesized CdWO4 powder. The CdWO4 powder was synthesized by a simple co-precipitation method in the laboratory. X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy proved that the CdWO4 powder was successfully prepared. Moreover, photoluminescence analysis showed that adding polymer does not change the emission peak of CdWO4. Also, the responses of all samples were measured using an 241Am alpha source with 1860 Bq activity. Results showed that the sample having thickness of 177 mg/cm2 has the best counting efficiency (over 2π geometry) among the others. The efficiency measurement was further evaluated using a 230Th source whose activity is 190.7 Bq. It revealed that the counting efficiency of this sample for both 241Am and 230Th was nearly equal.