Super-elastic Scintillating Fibers and Fabrics for Efficient and Visual Radiation Detection

The fabrication of advanced radiation detectors is an important subject due to the wide use of radiation sources in scientific instruments, medical services, security check, non-destructive inspection, and nuclear industries. However, the manufacture of flexible and stretchable radiation detectors remains a challenge. Here, we report the scalable fabrication of super-elastic scintillating fibers and fabrics for visual radiation detection by thermal drawing and melt-spinning methods using styrene-b-(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene, and scintillating Gd2O2S: Tb (GOS). Microstructure evolution, rheological properties, and radiation-composite interaction are studied to reveal the excellent processability, elasticity, and radiation detection ability of the fabricated fibers. Benefiting from the physical crosslinking structural features of the polymer matrix and the excellent radiation absorption capacities of GOS, the resulting fiber can sustain high strains of 765% with a high content of GOS dopants (2 wt.%) and has excellent X-ray detection performance with the limit down to 53 nGy(air) s(-1). Furthermore, stretchable fabrics are constructed, and their applications in various fields, such as radiation warning, and X-ray imaging, are demonstrated. Our work not only provides a new type of super-elastic scintillating fibers and fabrics for smart textiles but also demonstrates their potential applications in the nuclear field.

Automated summary

This article reports a method for scalable fabrication of super-elastic scintillating fibers and fabrics using thermal drawing and melt-spinning methods. The resulting fiber and fabric exhibit excellent processability, elasticity, and radiation detection ability. Applications in radiation warning and X-ray imaging are demonstrated.