Permeation and optical properties of YAG:Er3+ fiber membrane scintillators prepared by novel sol-gel/electrospinning method

摘要

An electrospinning method for fabrication of the YAG:Er3+ fibrous membrane is developed and the scintillation properties of the obtained membranes were examined. A homogeneous precursor YAG sol was synthesized allowing to control the sol-gel transition. The synthesized precursor allows one to achieve the 5 wt.% level of fiber doping with Er without formation of any undesired crystalline phases. It was found that the relative humidity had a strong impact on the fiber microstructure. The fibers obtained at the low relative humidity level (similar to 30%) had almost straight cylindrical shape with an average diameter of similar to 590 nm, their surface was smooth. The shape of fibers obtained at the high relative humidity level (similar to 50%) deviated from the straight cylindrical shape and the average diameter was larger, similar to 1.12 A mu m. The fluid permeability of membranes, K, obtained at the low relative humidity level was measured using an upward wicking experiment to give K similar to 10(-13) m(2). The YAG:Er membrane presented a strong green photoluminescence under ultraviolet excitation and intense radioluminescence dominated by emission lines at 398 and 467 nm under the X-ray excitation. The properties of these materials make them promising candidates as porous scintillators for the detection of ionizing radiation of flowing fluids.