Effect of Particle Sizes on the Efficiency of Fluorinated Nanodiamond Neutron Reflectors
Over a decade ago, it was confirmed that detonation nanodiamond (DND) powders reflect very cold neutrons (VCNs) diffusively at any incidence angle and that they reflect cold neutrons quasi-specularly at small incidence angles. In the present publication, we report the results of a study on the effec...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Nanomaterials |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/11/3067 |
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| author | Aleksander Aleksenskii Marcus Bleuel Alexei Bosak Alexandra Chumakova Artur Dideikin Marc Dubois Ekaterina Korobkina Egor Lychagin Alexei Muzychka Grigory Nekhaev Valery Nesvizhevsky Alexander Nezvanov Ralf Schweins Alexander Shvidchenko Alexander Strelkov Kylyshbek Turlybekuly Alexander Vul’ Kirill Zhernenkov |
| author_facet | Aleksander Aleksenskii Marcus Bleuel Alexei Bosak Alexandra Chumakova Artur Dideikin Marc Dubois Ekaterina Korobkina Egor Lychagin Alexei Muzychka Grigory Nekhaev Valery Nesvizhevsky Alexander Nezvanov Ralf Schweins Alexander Shvidchenko Alexander Strelkov Kylyshbek Turlybekuly Alexander Vul’ Kirill Zhernenkov |
| author_sort | Aleksander Aleksenskii |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Over a decade ago, it was confirmed that detonation nanodiamond (DND) powders reflect very cold neutrons (VCNs) diffusively at any incidence angle and that they reflect cold neutrons quasi-specularly at small incidence angles. In the present publication, we report the results of a study on the effect of particle sizes on the overall efficiency of neutron reflectors made of DNDs. To perform this study, we separated, by centrifugation, the fraction of finer DND nanoparticles (which are referred to as S-DNDs here) from a broad initial size distribution and experimentally and theoretically compared the performance of such a neutron reflector with that from deagglomerated fluorinated DNDs (DF-DNDs). Typical commercially available DNDs with the size of ~4.3 nm are close to the optimum for VCNs with a typical velocity of ~50 m/s, while smaller and larger DNDs are more efficient for faster and slower VCN velocities, respectively. Simulations show that, for a realistic reflector geometry, the replacement of DF-DNDs (a reflector with the best achieved performance) by S-DNDs (with smaller size DNDs) increases the neutron albedo in the velocity range above ~60 m/s. This increase in the albedo results in an increase in the density of faster VCNs in such a reflector cavity of up to ~25% as well as an increase in the upper boundary of the velocities of efficient VCN reflection. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:12:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-72942fe0cf7648abb32763dfce8b7410 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-4991 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:12:55Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nanomaterials |
| spelling | doaj.art-72942fe0cf7648abb32763dfce8b74102023-11-23T00:42:40ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912021-11-011111306710.3390/nano11113067Effect of Particle Sizes on the Efficiency of Fluorinated Nanodiamond Neutron ReflectorsAleksander Aleksenskii0Marcus Bleuel1Alexei Bosak2Alexandra Chumakova3Artur Dideikin4Marc Dubois5Ekaterina Korobkina6Egor Lychagin7Alexei Muzychka8Grigory Nekhaev9Valery Nesvizhevsky10Alexander Nezvanov11Ralf Schweins12Alexander Shvidchenko13Alexander Strelkov14Kylyshbek Turlybekuly15Alexander Vul’16Kirill Zhernenkov17Laboratory of Physics for Cluster Structures, Ioffe Institute, Polytechnicheskaya Str. 26, 194021 St. Petersburg, RussiaNational Institute of Standards and Technology Center for Neutron Research, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USAEuropean Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 av. des Martyrs, F-38042 Grenoble, FranceEuropean Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 av. des Martyrs, F-38042 Grenoble, FranceLaboratory of Physics for Cluster Structures, Ioffe Institute, Polytechnicheskaya Str. 26, 194021 St. Petersburg, RussiaInstitut de Chimie de Clermont-Ferrand (ICCF UME 6296), Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, 24 av. Blaise Pascal, F-63178 Aubière, FranceDepartment of Nuclear Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USAFrank Laboratory of Neutron Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 6 Joliot Curie, 141980 Dubna, RussiaFrank Laboratory of Neutron Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 6 Joliot Curie, 141980 Dubna, RussiaFrank Laboratory of Neutron Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 6 Joliot Curie, 141980 Dubna, RussiaInstitut Max von Laue–Paul Langevin, 71 av. des Martyrs, F-38042 Grenoble, FranceFrank Laboratory of Neutron Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 6 Joliot Curie, 141980 Dubna, RussiaInstitut Max von Laue–Paul Langevin, 71 av. des Martyrs, F-38042 Grenoble, FranceLaboratory of Physics for Cluster Structures, Ioffe Institute, Polytechnicheskaya Str. 26, 194021 St. Petersburg, RussiaFrank Laboratory of Neutron Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 6 Joliot Curie, 141980 Dubna, RussiaFrank Laboratory of Neutron Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 6 Joliot Curie, 141980 Dubna, RussiaLaboratory of Physics for Cluster Structures, Ioffe Institute, Polytechnicheskaya Str. 26, 194021 St. Petersburg, RussiaFrank Laboratory of Neutron Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 6 Joliot Curie, 141980 Dubna, RussiaOver a decade ago, it was confirmed that detonation nanodiamond (DND) powders reflect very cold neutrons (VCNs) diffusively at any incidence angle and that they reflect cold neutrons quasi-specularly at small incidence angles. In the present publication, we report the results of a study on the effect of particle sizes on the overall efficiency of neutron reflectors made of DNDs. To perform this study, we separated, by centrifugation, the fraction of finer DND nanoparticles (which are referred to as S-DNDs here) from a broad initial size distribution and experimentally and theoretically compared the performance of such a neutron reflector with that from deagglomerated fluorinated DNDs (DF-DNDs). Typical commercially available DNDs with the size of ~4.3 nm are close to the optimum for VCNs with a typical velocity of ~50 m/s, while smaller and larger DNDs are more efficient for faster and slower VCN velocities, respectively. Simulations show that, for a realistic reflector geometry, the replacement of DF-DNDs (a reflector with the best achieved performance) by S-DNDs (with smaller size DNDs) increases the neutron albedo in the velocity range above ~60 m/s. This increase in the albedo results in an increase in the density of faster VCNs in such a reflector cavity of up to ~25% as well as an increase in the upper boundary of the velocities of efficient VCN reflection.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/11/3067detonation nanodiamondsnanopowderreflectors of slow neutronsalbedosize separation of nanodiamondsfluorination |
| spellingShingle | Aleksander Aleksenskii Marcus Bleuel Alexei Bosak Alexandra Chumakova Artur Dideikin Marc Dubois Ekaterina Korobkina Egor Lychagin Alexei Muzychka Grigory Nekhaev Valery Nesvizhevsky Alexander Nezvanov Ralf Schweins Alexander Shvidchenko Alexander Strelkov Kylyshbek Turlybekuly Alexander Vul’ Kirill Zhernenkov Effect of Particle Sizes on the Efficiency of Fluorinated Nanodiamond Neutron Reflectors Nanomaterials detonation nanodiamonds nanopowder reflectors of slow neutrons albedo size separation of nanodiamonds fluorination |
| title | Effect of Particle Sizes on the Efficiency of Fluorinated Nanodiamond Neutron Reflectors |
| title_full | Effect of Particle Sizes on the Efficiency of Fluorinated Nanodiamond Neutron Reflectors |
| title_fullStr | Effect of Particle Sizes on the Efficiency of Fluorinated Nanodiamond Neutron Reflectors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effect of Particle Sizes on the Efficiency of Fluorinated Nanodiamond Neutron Reflectors |
| title_short | Effect of Particle Sizes on the Efficiency of Fluorinated Nanodiamond Neutron Reflectors |
| title_sort | effect of particle sizes on the efficiency of fluorinated nanodiamond neutron reflectors |
| topic | detonation nanodiamonds nanopowder reflectors of slow neutrons albedo size separation of nanodiamonds fluorination |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/11/3067 |
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