Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HANSOME (Hafnium oxide based nanocomposite scintillators for fast timing detection)
Reporting period: 2020-10-01 to 2022-09-30
• HANSOME proposes a novel class of scintillating materials for the creation of efficient and fast detectors for the time-of-flight positron emission tomography (ToF-PET) in medical diagnostic and for particles detection in high-energy physics experiments. The existing detectors based on inorganic or plastic scintillators do not enable the technological and experimental progress in these fields of expertise. HANSOME develops HfO2 nanoscintillators (NS) -based scintillating composites. Their specific design allows to produce scintillators with optimized performance for reliable detectors to obtain advancements in ToF-PET and high-energy physics.
• The results of HANSOME are important for fundamental science, healthcare/technology, and social field. The investigation of novel composite scintillators copes with the lack of knowledge of the scintillation at the nanoscale. The ionizing radiation activates energy (E) sharing mechanisms (Fig. 1), which are dependent on the composite’s composition and physico-chemical properties of its components. The project provides a background for the investigation of the correlation between the design of any composite scintillator and their timing/luminescence properties. The creation of fast composite scintillators enables to surpass the intrinsic limitation of commercial ToF-PET scatters and to obtain high spatial resolution images with benefits for the early cancer diagnosis. HANSOME also provides a realistic solution for the fabrication of next generation detector systems in high-energy physics with ad-hoc properties. HANSOME outcomes are fundamental in the educational field and to improve the social-life quality worldwide. The development of multidisciplinary HANSOME project helps to attract high-school students and teachers, as it shows a modern concept of science.
• HANSOME develops HfO2-based composite scintillators with high light yield and fast timing capabilities. Dense HfO2 NS are embedded into polymers to increase their density and thus the ability to interact with ionizing radiations; in parallel, the use of highly fluorescent organic dyes with (sub-)ns lifetime improves the final composite’s performances. Besides the applicable aspects, HANSOME describes the key parameters of the NS and the composites (synthesis, morphology, size, physico-chemical properties, loading strategy of polymers) to tune the timing/luminescence properties and to develop an approach for the investigation of any composite scintillator suitable in fast timing-technology.
• The results of HANSOME are important for fundamental science, healthcare/technology, and social field. The investigation of novel composite scintillators copes with the lack of knowledge of the scintillation at the nanoscale. The ionizing radiation activates energy (E) sharing mechanisms (Fig. 1), which are dependent on the composite’s composition and physico-chemical properties of its components. The project provides a background for the investigation of the correlation between the design of any composite scintillator and their timing/luminescence properties. The creation of fast composite scintillators enables to surpass the intrinsic limitation of commercial ToF-PET scatters and to obtain high spatial resolution images with benefits for the early cancer diagnosis. HANSOME also provides a realistic solution for the fabrication of next generation detector systems in high-energy physics with ad-hoc properties. HANSOME outcomes are fundamental in the educational field and to improve the social-life quality worldwide. The development of multidisciplinary HANSOME project helps to attract high-school students and teachers, as it shows a modern concept of science.
• HANSOME develops HfO2-based composite scintillators with high light yield and fast timing capabilities. Dense HfO2 NS are embedded into polymers to increase their density and thus the ability to interact with ionizing radiations; in parallel, the use of highly fluorescent organic dyes with (sub-)ns lifetime improves the final composite’s performances. Besides the applicable aspects, HANSOME describes the key parameters of the NS and the composites (synthesis, morphology, size, physico-chemical properties, loading strategy of polymers) to tune the timing/luminescence properties and to develop an approach for the investigation of any composite scintillator suitable in fast timing-technology.
HANSOME wants to the create hafnia based scintillating composites (Fig.1) with satisfactory timing performances for fast timing applications. For the first time, hafnia NS were produced by the scalable and reliable photo-induced synthesis (Fig.2). After the synthesis the NS were subjected to annealing treatment at high temperature. HANSOME evidenced that these thermal treatments allow to increase the crystallinity degree and to improve the light output of the NS. These NS have a blue emission under excitation (see photo (PL) -and radio (RL) luminescence in Fig. 3); the colour of the light and the lifetime are appropriate to promptly excite the fast emission of many organic moieties suitable for fast timing techniques. Once validated their spectral features, HfO2 NS were embedded with a fast organic dye into a plastic matrix for the creation of composite scintillators (Fig.4-6). The activation of the dye emission by transfer of energy from the NS was explored in the final composite material under ionizing radiation, such as X-rays. HANSOME findings revealed that the use of NS is essential to improve the efficiency of the emission and timing performance of the dye in the composite scintillators. Especially, the composite scintillator prototype made by 1% of NS incorporated in the plastic host with dye showed performances similar to the ones of standard scintillators commercially in use.
HANSOME suggests the benefits of creating this kind of hafnia-based composites scintillators that depend on many aspects, such as the low cost of production and the chance to tune their spectroscopic/timing properties, by simply adjusting the physico-chemical properties of the components, their design, and concentrations in the polymeric matrix, according to the qualities requested by the specific fast timing applications.
The findings of the project were presented in 5 international conferences. At LUMDETR conference in 2021, the oral contribution received the Best Oral Presentation Award. Further, the findings of the project were regularly shared during seminars and meetings with the groups of FZU in Prague, and with the industrial partners and scientific collaborators. The development of the project allowed the publication of 5 papers in international peer-reviewed journals, among which one in Nature Communication.
HANSOME suggests the benefits of creating this kind of hafnia-based composites scintillators that depend on many aspects, such as the low cost of production and the chance to tune their spectroscopic/timing properties, by simply adjusting the physico-chemical properties of the components, their design, and concentrations in the polymeric matrix, according to the qualities requested by the specific fast timing applications.
The findings of the project were presented in 5 international conferences. At LUMDETR conference in 2021, the oral contribution received the Best Oral Presentation Award. Further, the findings of the project were regularly shared during seminars and meetings with the groups of FZU in Prague, and with the industrial partners and scientific collaborators. The development of the project allowed the publication of 5 papers in international peer-reviewed journals, among which one in Nature Communication.
HANSOME meets the specific requests in medical imaging and high-energy physics experiments for the creation of advanced and affordable radiation detectors based on scintillating composites. The approach for the development of any scintillating hybrid and composite system has socio-economic impacts. From HANSOME findings, companies manufacturing scintillators, such as NUVIA, could source the know-how for the creation of highly performant brand-new scintillators, potentially substituting the standard ones, with improvement in the industrial processes, including the reduction of cost and production time. Therefore, the worldwide economic impact is remarkable. Moreover, in the medical imaging field, the creation of innovative ToF-PET systems based on these scintillating composites would improve the patients’ quality of life and open new diagnostic possibilities, such as screening of obese patients or pregnant women, that are barely evaluated due to the lack of efficient tools.