Investigating the influence of pH solution value on the scintillation properties of Ce³⁺-activated YAG nanopowder synthesized via sol–gel method

This study delves into investigating the influence of pH on the scintillation characteristics of YAG: Ce³⁺ nanoscintillators. Six sample detectors were fabricated using cerium-activated YAG powder synthesized via the sol–gel method at different pH levels. The aim is to identify the optimal pH for designing efficient radiation detectors, thus advancing radiation detection technologies. Results underscore pH's role in optimizing YAG: Ce³⁺ nanoscintillator performance. Synthesis at pH = 4 exhibited superior performance, with a scintillation light yield of 26384 ± 3500 ph/MeV and a fast component decay of 82 ns. These findings inform the synthesis and optimization of YAG: Ce³⁺ nanoscintillators, benefiting applications such as radiation detection and medical imaging.