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Radiolabeling and Quantification of Cellular Levels of Phosphoinositides by High Performance Liquid Chromatography-coupled Flow Scintillation
Published on: January 6, 2016
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Phase stability and lithium loading capacity in a liquid scintillation cocktail
Denis E Bergeron1, H P Mumm1, M A Tyra1
1Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Dr., Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA.
Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry
|April 16, 2019
Summary
Researchers identified unstable liquid scintillation cocktails prone to phase separation. A stable cocktail formulation with a high lithium-6 concentration was developed for long-term use in detectors.
Area of Science:
- Nuclear physics and detector technology.
- Materials science and colloid chemistry.
Background:
- Liquid scintillation cocktails containing neutron capture agents like lithium-6 (⁶Li) are crucial for neutron and neutrino detectors.
- Long-term stability of these cocktails is a significant challenge for detectors operating over extended periods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To differentiate between thermodynamically unstable emulsions and stable microemulsions in liquid scintillation cocktails.
- To develop a stable cocktail formulation suitable for long-term detector applications.
Main Methods:
- Phase separation was induced using centrifugation and monitored via the quench indicating parameter (QIP) measured with an external Compton source.
- Dynamic light scattering (DLS) was employed to characterize emulsion stability and observe real-time phase separation in extreme cases.
Main Results:
- Thermodynamically unstable emulsions were successfully distinguished from stable microemulsions.
- A centrifugation-driven phase separation method was effective in identifying cocktail instability.
- A stable cocktail formulation containing 0.01 mass fraction of lithium (Li) was developed, representing a relatively high Li concentration.
Conclusions:
- Understanding and identifying emulsion stability is critical for the long-term performance of liquid scintillation detectors.
- The developed stable cocktail offers a promising solution for applications requiring high lithium concentration and extended operational lifetimes.
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