Alainna Garrett
Research Mentor(s): Mark Hammig
Mentor Department: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences
Authors: Alainna Garrett, Illhyuk Han, Mark Hammig
Session: Session 3 (11:00am – 11:50am)
Presentation Type: Poster 23
Abstract
Controlling the structure of a material on the nanoscale allows one to develop new electronic and mechanical properties from macroscale structures. For semiconducting nanoparticles (NPs) in particular, the size of the quantum-dot will change the band-gap, across which particles are converted into electrons. Furthermore, the surfaces of the NPs can regulate the thermal noise in the material so that higher resolution sensors can be fabricated. Current detectors for ionizing radiation, principally derived from single crystalline materials, are expensive and have limited energy resolution. Here, aqueous synthesis is used as a low-cost means to manufacture high-performance radiation sensors. Specifically, we make lead sulfide (PbS) and lead sulfide telluride (PbSxTe1-x) NPs using the hot injection method and hydrothermal synthesis, respectively, where the short-chained ligands, 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) and thioglycolic acid (TGA), are used to functionalize the NPs. The 3 – 20 nm NPs are characterized using various instruments, including the Nanosight and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), to verify their size before being formed into composites by hydrogen bonding the NPs to a polymeric matrix, aramid nanofiber (ANF), which is a percolating network derived from Kevlar. The resulting devices demonstrate a new modality for building multi-functional, flexible, lightweight radiation detectors.
