Abstract
A synthetic methodology is developed to generate boron rich aromatic small molecules based on benzene and pyrene moieties for the detection of thermal neutrons. The prepared aromatic compounds have a relatively high boron content up to 7.4 wt%, which is important for application in neutron detection as 10B (20% of natural abundance boron) has a large neutron induced reaction cross-section. This is demonstrated by preparing blends of the synthesized molecules with fluorescent dopants in poly(vinyltoluene) matrices resulting in comparable scintillation light output and neutron capture as state-of-the art commercial scintillators, but with the advantage of much lower cost. The boron-rich benzene and pyrene derivatives are prepared by Suzuki conditions using both microwave and traditional heating, affording yields of 40-93%. This new procedure is simple and straightforward, and has the potential to be scaled up.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-3-2015
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep13401
Funding Information
This research is supported by the US Department of Homeland Security-Domestic Nuclear Office (DHS-14-DN-077-ARI-NC7).
Repository Citation
Yemam, Henok A.; Mahl, Adam; Koldemir, Unsal; Remedes, Tyler; Parkin, Sean; Greife, Uwe; and Sellinger, Alan, "Boron-Rich Benzene and Pyrene Derivatives for the Detection of Thermal Neutrons" (2015). Chemistry Faculty Publications. 49.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/chemistry_facpub/49
Supplementary Information
srep13401-f1.jpg (46 kB)
Figure 1: Conventional heating condition (Trad.) and Microwave (μW) heating condition for generating tetra-borylated pyrene (TBP).
srep13401-f2.jpg (98 kB)
Figure 2: Boron containing pyrene and benzene derivatives.
srep13401-f3.jpg (55 kB)
Figure 3: MALDI-TOF-MS of TBP with 1,8,9-trihydroxyanthracene as a matrix.
srep13401-f4.jpg (142 kB)
Figure 4: An ellipsoid plot (50% probability) for TBP.
srep13401-f5.jpg (447 kB)
Figure 5: Left to right: Sample v and vi incorporating 1 and 5% 124TrBB respectively.
srep13401-f6.jpg (127 kB)
Figure 6: Thermal neutron capture using a 5% 124TrBB plastic scintillator, sample vi.
srep13401-f7.jpg (349 kB)
Figure 7: Left to right: Sample ix, x and xi incorporating 1, 2 and 1% TBP respectively.
Notes/Citation Information
Published in Scientific Reports, v. 5, article 13401, p. 1-9.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/