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Production of polystyrene-based scintillation microspheres for the measurement of radioactivity by spray-drying

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Abstract

The use of plastic scintillation microspheres (PSm) is an innovative technique for measuring the radioactivity of beta-emitting radionuclides. PSm can be produced via different methods; none of which has been assayed at the industrial scale. In the present paper, we evaluate the production of PSm by spray-drying on an industrial scale. Our results indicate that fluorescent solutes were indeed encapsulated within polystyrene producing spherical particles of 10 μm in diameter. Detection efficiencies for the measurement of 3H and 14C were 3–5 % and 60–75 %, respectively. These efficiencies are comparable to those of PSm produced via other methods.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) and Catalan regional Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) for financial support under Grants CTM2008-01147/CTM2011-27211 and 2009-SGR-1188, respectively. The authors are indebted to Marti Bartra, Pere Talavera and Stephen Winter for their support and advice on the use of the spray-drying technique at Esteve Química.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Barcelona, Martí i Franqués, 1-11, E-08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Luz Mary Santiago, Alex Tarancón, Héctor Bagán & José Francisco García

  2. Department of Pure and Applied Biochemistry, Lund University, Getingevägen 60, hus II, SE-22100, Lund, Sweden

    Héctor Bagán

Authors
  1. Luz Mary Santiago
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  2. Alex Tarancón
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  3. Héctor Bagán
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  4. José Francisco García
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Correspondence to Alex Tarancón.

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Santiago, L.M., Tarancón, A., Bagán, H. et al. Production of polystyrene-based scintillation microspheres for the measurement of radioactivity by spray-drying. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 308, 789–799 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-015-4561-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-015-4561-z

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