A Methanol-mediated Room-Temperature Synthesis of Tellurium-Loaded Liquid Scintillators for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay Search
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arXiv
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866918449169563648 |
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| author | Ding, Yayun Liu, Mengchao Li, Gaosong Wen, Liangjian Liu, Fei Liu, Feng Jiang, Jiayu Zhang, Zhiqi Li, Wenjie Zhang, Zhiyong |
| author_facet | Ding, Yayun Liu, Mengchao Li, Gaosong Wen, Liangjian Liu, Fei Liu, Feng Jiang, Jiayu Zhang, Zhiqi Li, Wenjie Zhang, Zhiyong |
| contents | This study establishes a methanol-mediated room-temperature synthesis approach for tellurium-diol (Te-diol) compounds for use in tellurium-loaded liquid scintillator (Te-LS). The synthesis involves the direct reaction of telluric acid with diols (e.g., 1,2-hexanediol) in methanol (MeOH) under ambient conditions (25$\pm$5\textdegree C), with the key features of lower energy consumption and enhanced safety compared with high-temperature azeotropic distillation method. Mechanistic studies reveal that MeOH serves not merely as a solvent but also exhibits a catalytic effect, playing a dual role in this water-free, heterogeneous room-temperature synthesis. The Te-diol compounds enable fabrication of high-performance Te samples exhibiting exceptional optical transparency (attenuation length = 20.1$\pm$1.1 m at $λ$=430 nm for 1\% Te mass loading), which is reported here for the first time. Furthermore, the Te-LS achieves long-term spectral stability approaching or exceeding one year for both 1\% and 3\% Te mass loadings, and demonstrates a light yield comparable those of both the azeotropic distillation method and the SNO+ collaboration's Type I loading method, albeit modestly lower than that of their Type II method. The developed protocol offers the potential for a more energy efficient alternative for large-scale Te-LS production, particularly valuable for next-generation neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_09316 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | A Methanol-mediated Room-Temperature Synthesis of Tellurium-Loaded Liquid Scintillators for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay Search Ding, Yayun Liu, Mengchao Li, Gaosong Wen, Liangjian Liu, Fei Liu, Feng Jiang, Jiayu Zhang, Zhiqi Li, Wenjie Zhang, Zhiyong Instrumentation and Detectors This study establishes a methanol-mediated room-temperature synthesis approach for tellurium-diol (Te-diol) compounds for use in tellurium-loaded liquid scintillator (Te-LS). The synthesis involves the direct reaction of telluric acid with diols (e.g., 1,2-hexanediol) in methanol (MeOH) under ambient conditions (25$\pm$5\textdegree C), with the key features of lower energy consumption and enhanced safety compared with high-temperature azeotropic distillation method. Mechanistic studies reveal that MeOH serves not merely as a solvent but also exhibits a catalytic effect, playing a dual role in this water-free, heterogeneous room-temperature synthesis. The Te-diol compounds enable fabrication of high-performance Te samples exhibiting exceptional optical transparency (attenuation length = 20.1$\pm$1.1 m at $λ$=430 nm for 1\% Te mass loading), which is reported here for the first time. Furthermore, the Te-LS achieves long-term spectral stability approaching or exceeding one year for both 1\% and 3\% Te mass loadings, and demonstrates a light yield comparable those of both the azeotropic distillation method and the SNO+ collaboration's Type I loading method, albeit modestly lower than that of their Type II method. The developed protocol offers the potential for a more energy efficient alternative for large-scale Te-LS production, particularly valuable for next-generation neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments. |
| title | A Methanol-mediated Room-Temperature Synthesis of Tellurium-Loaded Liquid Scintillators for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay Search |
| topic | Instrumentation and Detectors |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.09316 |