Luminescence enhancement of PPO/PVT scintillators by CeF3 nanoparticles

Oleic acid coated cerium fluoride (CeF3) nanoparticles were synthesized by a wet chemistry method. The average size of the nanoparticles is 12 nm, and the nanoparticles are dispersible in polyvinyl toluene (PVT) monomer due to the oleic acid coating. Different amounts of as-synthesized CeF3 nanoparticles are then loaded into PVT matrix with 0.5 wt% 2,5-diphenyloxazole (PPO) by bulk polymerization. The luminescence of PPO/PVT is enhanced by CeF3 nanoparticles to 3 and 2.5 times under UV and X-ray excitation, respectively. This enhancement is due to the energy transfer from CeF3 to PPO, the increase of the stopping power by doping CeF3 nanoparticles into PPO/PVT and the escape of charges from CeF3 nanoparticles.