Researchers at the Materials Science Department of the University of Milan-Bicocca have obtained a nanosponge capable of absorbing and revealing hazardous and polluting radioactive gases. The research, described in the journal Nature Photonics and led by Angelo Monguzzi, Angiolina Comotti, Silvia Bracco and Anna Vedda, could find applications in monitoring nuclear power plants and handling contrast agents used in medical diagnostics.
"Current detectors, based on liquid scintillators, are laborious and expensive to prepare, and their sensitivity is severely limited by gas solubility,” says Monguzzi. “The initial technological challenge consisted in identifying new solid scintillator materials that could simultaneously gather radioactive gas and emit visible light, detected with high sensitivity,” he added.
The nanosponge scintillator is able to capture radioactive gas atoms and interact with them, emitting light. This process makes it possible to measure hazardous substances more accurately and to detect much smaller quantities than before.
"We will continue our research according to a development programme until we come up with a prototype capable of replacing the technologies in use for the detection of these substances with a simpler, less expensive and much better performing device," concludes Comotti.
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