Lower limits of detection in using carbon nanotubes as thermoluminescent dosimeters of beta radiation

World-wide, on-going intensive research is being seen in adaptation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for a wide variety of applications, particular interest herein being in the thermoluminescent (TL) properties of CNTs and their sensitivity towards energetic radiations. Using beta radiation delivering dose levels of a few Gy it has been observed in previous study that strain and impurity defects in CNTs give rise to significant TL yields, providing an initial measure of the extent to which electron trapping centres exist in various qualities of CNT, from super-pure to raw. This in turn points to the possibility that there may be considerable advantage in using such media for radiation dosimetry applications, including for in vivo dosimetry. CNTs also have an effective atomic number similar to that of adipose tissue, making them suitable for soft tissue dosimetry. In present investigations various single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) samples in the form of buckypaper have been irradiated to doses in the range 35-1.3 Gy, use being made of a 90Sr beta source, the response of the CNTs buckypaper with dose showing a trend towards linearity. It is shown for present production methodology for buckypaper samples that the raw SWCNT buckypaper offer the greatest sensitivity, detecting doses down to some few tens of mGy.