Organic and hybrid polysiloxane-based scintillators and passive dosimeters

The growing interest towards polysiloxane-based radiation detection systems is related with the several advantages that polysiloxanes offer in comparison with other state-of-the-art plastic materials used in scintillation, like polyvinyltoluene and polystyrene. In this respect, polysiloxane elastomers offer higher thermal stability, flexibility and radiation hardness than the traditional plastic counterpart. For this reason, the study of polysiloxane-based systems for the detection of several types of radiation such as neutrons, high-energy photons and charged particles has recently received increasing attention by the scientific community. In this thesis, we report the current advances on both organic and hybrid polysiloxane-based radiation detection systems for scintillation and passive dosimetry applications. In this framework, we will start from the recent advances on organic polysiloxane-based scintillators for the detection of fast neutrons, with particular emphasis on their pulse-shape discrimination capabilities, allowing for the distinction of neutrons from the γ-ray background. The other and main part of the thesis will be then dedicated to hybrid nanostructured polysiloxane-based radiation detection systems. In this context, latest progress on polysiloxane scintillators embedding 6LiF nanocrystals for thermal neutron detection will be presented, with particular focus on the role of the nanocrystal size and dispersion in the detection performances. Subsequently, polysiloxane/quantum dots nanocomposites will be investigated for their possible use in both scintillation and passive dosimetry. In this latter application, the optical properties of the samples are analyzed after irradiation, with the aim to correlate the radiation-induced effects with the radiation dose. Lastly, the role of the polymer matrix in the post-irradiation optical response of the nanocrystals will be investigated.