Optimization of the production techniques and investigation of the viability of the MgB4O7:Ce,Li as a dosimetric material

• Grant number: 20/06268-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: March 01, 2021
• End date: February 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Nuclear Engineering - Applications of Radioisotopes
• Principal Investigator: Linda Viola Ehlin Caldas
• Grantee: Daniel Andrade Azevedo de Vasconcelos
• Host Institution: Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (IPEN). Secretaria de Desenvolvimento Econômico (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/05982-0 - R&D&I in radiation metrology in the health area, AP.TEM

Abstract

The constant increase of the exposition to ionizing radiations and neutrons is due to, mainly, the increasing demand for services in the medical field, such as diagnostic radiology and radiotherapy. If on one hand the increase of these numbers is related to an improvement in the quality of life of the population, on the other hand, there is the increasing risk related to the employment of these technologies, showing the need to use more sensitive, stable, and reproductible detectors, even more necessary. To this date, among the commercially available dosimetric materials, there is none that fulfills all the requirements in medical applications, 2D dose mapping, and neutron dosimetry. Moreover, it is desirable for this material to have Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) properties, which is a dosimetric technique that, in spite of being relatively new, it is already being used and, due to its many advantages, tends to be the standard in the future. Among the materials with the most potential to overcome these limitations, there is MgB4O7. Besides the already known tissue equivalency (Zeff=8.2) and high sensitivity, recent works have shown not only the possibility of using the OSL properties of this material, being sensitive to both ionizing radiations and neutrons, but also how promising it is, when doped with cerium and lithium, in comparison to commercial dosimeters. However, there are still improvements to be made in the production process. Therefore, this project aims to investigate and optimize the main MgB4O7 synthesis methods, show its viability in the areas of medical dosimetry and individual monitoring, to both ionizing radiations and neutrons, following the current national and international standards, and applying it in clinics and hospitals of São Paulo, after its viability has been confirmed. (AU)