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.