A laboratory technique was developed for obtaining an ultra-low-background hybrid material based on organic glass — polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). 157Gd nuclei are used as an efficient absorber of thermal neutrons in the hybrid material. A uniform distribution of gadolinium in the PMMAmatrix is achieved by introducing the gadolinium in the form of a coordination compound — gadolinium acetylacetonate — into the hybrid material. A uniform gadolinium distribution was achieved in a 5 cm thick matrix of hybrid material with gadolinium mass content from 1.0 to 1.5%. It is shown that at 298 K the mechanical characteristics of the hybrid material samples coincide with nominally pure PMMA, but at 77 K the hybrid material is inferior to pure PMMA within admissible requirements.
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Translated from Steklo i Keramika, No. 3, pp. 3 – 10, March, 2021.
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Zykova, M.P., Khomyakov, A.V., Grishechkin, M.B. et al. Gadolinium-Based Hybrid Ultra-Low-Background Material for Protecting the Darkside20k Dark Matter Detector from Background Neutrons. Glass Ceram 78, 91–96 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10717-021-00354-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10717-021-00354-4