Novel technique for ultra-sensitive determination of trace elements in organic scintillators

A technique based on neutron activation has been developed for an extremely high sensitivity analysis of trace elements in organic materials. Organic materials are sealed in plastic or high-purity quartz and irradiated at the HFIR and MITR. The most volatile materials such as liquid scintillator (LS) are first preconcentrated by clean vacuum evaporation. Activities of interest are separated from side activities by acid digestion and ion exchange. The technique has been applied to study the liquid scintillator used in the KamLAND neutrino experiment. Detection limits of <2.4×10−15 g 40K/g LS, <5.5×10−15 g Th/g LS, and <8×10−15 g U/g LS have been achieved.