TL studies of a sensitive CaNa2(SO4)2:Dy nanophoshor for gamma dosimetry

A new Dy doped CaNa2(SO4)2 nanophosphor has been synthesized using simple co-precipitation method and claimed to have good Thermoluminescence (TL) dosimetric properties. Structural, morphological, optical, compound identification and thermal analysis of the nanophosphor was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), High-Resolution Transmission electron microscope i.e. (HRTEM), UV-Visible, FTIR and TGA-DSC techniques. XRD studies showed a monoclinic structure and size of the particle found to be around ∼45 nm. HRTEM confirms the nanosize of the particles of the same order and SEAD pattern shows fringes perfectly match with inter planner spacing distance “d” of XRD i.e. 2.74 Å. UV-Visible and FTIR analysis revealed the absorption wavelength 246 nm which corresponds to the band gap of around ∼5.03 eV and formation of the compounds of different bonds such as S-O, S=O, SO4 stretch, SS disulfide, respectively. The percentage of weight loss-gain, endothermic changes of the nanophosphor was measured using TGA-DSC analysis and corresponding weight loss of such a nanophosphor with increasing temperature was observed around 12.60%. The TL analysis shows that the CaNa2(SO4)2:Dy has a typical single glow curve at 164 °C and gives excellent linear response curve over a wide range of gamma dose from 10 Gy to 10 kGy. Moreover, the reproducibility of the CaNa2(SO4)2:Dy nanophosphor did not change after numerous cycles of exposures and readouts. Fading has been observed at around 9.55% for 30 days. Theoretical analysis of glow curves of samples irradiated by γ-rays was done by computerized glow curve deconvolution (CGCD) method to find out trapping parameters of various peaks. Finally, CaNa2(SO4)2:Dy nanophosphor could be a potential candidate for applications in the field of accidental and reactor dosimetry.