The TL-Properties of some Environmental Materials and Assessment the Effects of Other Different Parameters

In the present work, the Thermoluminescence (TL) properties of red sand sample collected from Nasr city, Cairo, Egypt was studied (the grain size effect, glow curve properties, dose response, batch homogeneity and fading). Surface morphology was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Chemical compositions of the red sand samples were estimated using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) machine. The analysis showed that the red sand sample mainly consisted of SiO2 (95.84%) and has feldspar which exhibits thermoluminescence. The experimental results illustrated that the optimum grain size ranges from 75 to150μm. After irradiation with γ-source (Co-60), the glow curves of the sample were found to have three peaks. The response curve has linearity in the dose range 10Gy – 2 kGy. Through 100 day, the total TL-signal fading reached 17%, but the dosimetric peak reached 12%. The measured activation energies of the peaks were deep enough to store the TL-signal. The pre-irradiation annealing at 800 °C for 1 h increased the TL sensitivity 2.295 times its original value. It could be concluded that the investigated samples could be used in environmental high γ-radiation measurements.