New macroporous support for the preparation of plastic scintillation resins

PSresins have arisen in the past years as a promising material for the measurement of radioactivity. PSresins are a material composed of a PSm support coated with a selective extractant on its surface, allowing the separation and measurement. However, for some applications, a capacity problem could be presented due to the flat surface of the PSm support. For this reason, the objective of this study has been to prepare a macroporous PSm support that allows the preparation of a PSresin for ⁹⁹Tc with higher capacity than the current existing PSresin. To achieve this, two porogens, dodecane and heptane, were studied. Both produce pores on the surface with similar diameter, but heptane has the best radiometric characteristics. Several proportions of heptane were studied, observing that an increase in the porogen content increased the surface area and PSm diameter, but with a low effect on the radiometric characteristics. Finally, PSresin for ⁹⁹Tc were prepared with these supports. The more porous supports could accept a higher quantity of extractant, thereby increasing the capacity of the PSresin, without significant effect on the radiometric characteristics or the sample volume at which the extractant starts leaching.