Experimental scintillator purification tests with silica gel chromatography
Ludwig Niedermeier, Christian Grieb, Lothar Oberauer, Gunther Korschinek, Franz von Feilitzsch
NIM-A Volume 568, Issue 2,
1 December 2006, Pages 915-922
doi:10.1016/j.nima.2006.08.006 (local copy)
Abstract
Liquid scintillators used in low counting rate experiments —like the neutrino experiments Borexino [Astroparticle Physics 16 (2002) 205] and Kamland [Nucl. Phys. Proc. Suppl. 145 (2005) 11]— usually have to fulfil high requirements concerning their radiopurity. In this context, silica gel chromatography is a promising purification method to extract traces of polar impurities from liquid scintillators. This publication presents a purification model along with the results of new laboratory experiments, which among others examine a purification mode predicted to be particularly efficient. Possible limitations in the purification capability of silica gel are investigated.