Study of the Thermoluminescent Characteristics of Ceramic Roof Tiles Exposed to Beta Radiation
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Study of the Thermoluminescent Characteristics of Ceramic Roof Tiles Exposed to Beta Radiation A. R. García-Haro1,*, R. Bernal2, C.Cruz-Vázquez1, S.E. Burruel-Ibarra1, V.R. Orante-Barrón and F. Brown1 1
Departamento de Investigación en Polímeros y Materiales de la Universidad de Sonora, Apdo. Postal 130, Hermosillo, Sonora 83000 México. 2
Departamento de Investigación en Física de la Universidad de Sonora, Apdo. Postal 5-088, Hermosillo, Sonora, 83000, México. *
E-mail: [email protected]
ABSTRACT In this work, thermoluminescence (TL) characteristics of roof tile ceramic samples previously exposed to beta radiation are reported for the very first time. TL measurements were carried out using powdered samples obtained by the the fine-grained method, with grain size ranged from 300 nm to 5 μm. Characteristic thermoluminescence glow curves showed a complex structure with a dosimetric maximum located at ~ 200 °C. TL response of roof tile samples increases as the radiation dose increases in the 25 Gy to 1.6 kGy range. One response showed a linear behaviour, with no evidence of saturation within the dose interval investigated. The entire TL glow curve exhibited a remarkable reusability during 10 consecutive irradiation-TL readout cycles. The total TL signal showed a very low fading and remained almost constant after 3 h of irradiation and the corresponding TL readout. TL dosimetry features of powdered roof tile place it as a promising material in retrospective dosimetry as well as in possible TL dating applications. Keywords: ceramic, grain size, radiation effects, structure, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
INTRODUCTION Several natural ceramic materials have been used as building materials; for example, tile, granite, marble, tiles, bricks, etc. and they exhibit thermoluminescence (TL) [1]. Thermoluminescence (TL) is a widely used and reliable technique in the field of radiation dosimetry. In thermoluminescence dosimetry the relationship between the TL signal of the material and the absorbed dose to be measured must be determined by an appropriate calibration. The areas of application aimed at monitoring the radiation dose absorbed are personnel dosimetry, environmental dosimetry, clinical dosimetry and retrospective dosimetry [2]. In the case of retrospective dosimetry, heated dosimeters of known exposure times and of well-known age as well are used, for instance, bricks and/or tiles, in order to discriminate doses originating from sources different than the ones coming from natural environment [3]. Retrospective dosimetry has its main application in accidental dosimetry, in which it is feasible to accomplish the determination of absorbed dose due to accidentally contaminated areas, above the normal background radiation. Accidental dosimetry also includes the determination of radiation doses
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during events such as nuclear weapons explosions, nuclear reactor accidents or other incidences of unintended radiation release [1,3,4]. Some materials proposed for the mentioned application are quartz, NaCl, ceramic ma
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