Preparation of nanocomposite scintillator of ZnS doped with Ag, Cu and AgCu for alpha particle detection

ZnS nanoparticles (NPs) doped with ‎Ag‎, ‎Cu‎, ‎and AgCu were synthesized using hydrothermal‎ ‎method in water solution‎. ‎The NPS are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD)‎, ‎energy-dispersive‎ ‎X-ray spectroscopy scanning (EDX)‎, ‎scanning electron‎ ‎microscopy (SEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS)‎. ‎The produced NPs have approximately hexagonal structure and a cubic zinc blended structure‎. ‎The size distribution of NPs has a medium around 10 nm‎. ‎Optical properties of these‎ ‎NPs were investigated using photo luminescence (PL) spectra‎, ‎that show the samples‎ ‎exhibit reasonable optical properties for scintillation applications‎. ‎ ‎‎‎The produced NPs were mixed‎ ‎with methyl methacrylate and dimethylformamide to prepare a very thin layer‎ ‎of a nanocomposite that is uniformly coated on a substrate of Plexiglas‎. ‎Response of the layers under alpha particles irradiation using a photomultiplier tube and a‎ ‎multichannel analyzer indicates that the doped ZnS NPs have reasonable scintillation response that‎ ‎capable them to be used in developing a low-cost and free-size structure of alpha particles detectors‎.