Nano-scale metal halide scintillation materials and methods for making same
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsBrent Allen Clothier, Sergio Paulo Martins Loureiro, Alok Srivastava, Venkat Subramaniam Venkataramani
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Abstract
Crystalline scintillator materials comprising nano-scale particles of metal halides are provided. The nano-scale particles are less than 100 nm in size. Methods are provided for preparing the particles. In these methods, ionic liquids are used in place of water to allow precipitation of the final product. In one method, the metal precursors and halide salts are dissolved in separate ionic liquids to form solutions, which are then combined to form the nano-crystalline end product. In the other methods, micro-emulsions are formed using ionic liquids to control particle size.
Claims47
A method for making nano-scale particles of a halide based scintillation material, comprising:
- combining a first solution comprising one or more metal salts and a second solution comprising one or more halide precursors to form nano-scale particles of a halide based scintillation material, wherein both the first solution and the second solution comprise ionic liquids;
- and
- isolating the nano-scale particles from the combined first and second solutions.
A method for making nano-scale particles of a halide based scintillation material, comprising:
- making a micro-emulsion;
- forming nano-scale particles of a halide based scintillation material in the micro-emulsion, wherein the nano-scale particles are formed by bubbling a hydrogen halide gas through the micro-emulsion;
- and
- isolating the particles from the micro-emulsion.
A method for making nano-scale particles of a halide based scintillation material, comprising:
- making a first micro-emulsion;
- adding a solution comprising one or more metal organic salts to the first micro-emulsion to form a second micro-emulsion;
- and
- isolating the nano-scale particles of the halide based scintillation material from the second micro-emulsion.
A method for making nano-scale particles of a halide based scintillation material, comprising the steps of
- forming a first micro-emulsion comprising:
- dissolving a first surfactant in a first organic solvent to form a first surfactant solution;
- dissolving one or more halide salts in a first ionic liquid to form a first solution;
- and
- mixing the first solution with the first surfactant solution to form the first micro-emulsion;
- forming a second micro-emulsion;
- combining the first micro-emulsion with the second micro-emulsion to form a combined micro-emulsion;
- and
- isolating the nano-scale particles of the halide based scintillation materials from the combined micro-emulsion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.