Impact of environmental factors on PADC radon detector sensitivity during long term storage

Abstract

A broad set of data on poly-allyl diglycol carbonate (PADC) exposure to various environmental conditions has been collected for a period of 1 year in order to study the aging effect on the sensitivity to radon detection. Aging is a phenomenon that occurs during long PADC storage resulting in a loss of sensitivity and/or creation of false tracks. Conditions under investigation were storages under pure nitrogen or air atmospheres, in water solutions of different pHs, in a range of temperatures, humidity and exposure to UV, gamma and neutron radiations.It was found that PADC strongly responds to some external conditions through physical changes in the polymer material; for example, etching of UV exposed detectors led to 10% loss of their thickness and the removal of the tracks layer.Performance of detectors was compared with a control that was the sensitivity of detectors from the same sheet at the time of primary calibration – within 1 month of each sheet being manufactured. Substantial difference in performance was found between storage under pure, dry nitrogen and in the presence of water. The former preserves PADC radon detection properties for the period of one year without noticeable change. The latter, on the other hand significantly reduces its performance even after 3 months’ storage.It was also established that storage under low temperature is not a suitable means to preserve PADC sensitivity to radon detection due to significant loss in the detector sensitivity.