Water based scintillator ink for printed X-ray radiation detectors

Environmentally-friendly materials are being pursued world-wide for applications across a wide range of technologies. For application in spray-printed radiation detectors, water-based scintillator inks have been produced by combining a thermoplastic elastomer poly (vinyl) alcohol (PVA) and Gd2O3:Eu3+ scintillator nanoparticles. Formulations of these green inks with different concentrations of scintillator nanoparticles have been assessed in terms of their rheological properties: the optimal concentration of scintillator nanoparticles in the water-based ink for spray-printing was 0.75 wt%. This optimized ink formulation exhibits Newtonian behavior with a viscosity around 100 cps and performance characteristics suitable for spray-printing scintillators for indirect X-ray detectors.