Capability of NIPAM polymer gel in recording dose from the interaction of B-10 and thermal neutron in BNCT

Abstract

The capability of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) polymer gel to record the dose resulting from boron neutron capture reaction in BNCT was determined. In this regard, three compositions of the gel with different concentrations of B-10 were prepared and exposed to gamma radiation and thermal neutrons. Unlike irradiation with gamma rays, the boron-loaded gels irradiated by neutron exhibited sensitivity enhancement compared with the gels without B-10. It was also found that the neutron sensitivity of the gel increased by the increase of concentration of B-10. It can be concluded that NIPAM gel might be suitable for the measurement of the absorbed dose enhancement due to B-10 and thermal neutron reaction in BNCT. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.