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J Garcia-Guinea

Publications and source records attributed to J Garcia-Guinea.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Thermal stability of the thermoluminescence trap structure of bentonite.

This work reports about the thermal stability of the blue thermoluminescence (TL) of a well-characterised natural bentonite from Almeria (Spain). The main interest of this clay, mainly composed of montmorillonite, is because of its application in the field of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) repository in deep-lying rocks. As observed in other aluminosilicates, bentonite exhibits a very complex structure of the emission spectra based on a wide broad maximum peaked at approximately 265 degrees C that can be associated to physico-chemical processes such as dehydroxylation processes, consecutive breaking linking of bonds, formation of hydrolysed ions and redox reactions. The thermal stability tests performed at different temperatures confirm a continuum in the distribution of traps. Hence, the glow curve analysis methods commonly used for synthetic materials based on single discrete traps cannot be applied for this material and the kinetic parameters were fitted assuming an exponential distribution of trapped electrons.

Bentonite↗

Luminescence emission spectra in the temperature range of the structural phase transitions of Na2SO4.

The spectral properties of Na2SO4 have been studied by means of infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL), thermoluminescence (TL) and radioluminescence (RL) in the range of 200-800 nm. The observed changes in the RL emission spectra after an annealing treatment (400 degrees C for 1 h) could be linked to thermal phase transformations and alkali self-diffusion through the lattice of this salt. Despite the complexity of the luminescence spectra structure, five emission bands peaked at 330, 345, 385, 460 and 630 nm could be distinguished. The UV-blue TL emission of this material exhibits a maximum peaked at 230 degrees C which is well correlated with the differential thermal analysis (DTA) and can be associated with the thermal transformation of the orthorhombic sodium sulphate (Na2SO4) V (thenardite) phase into Na2SO4 III, II and I phases. Taking into account the observed changes on the structural phase transition by X-ray diffraction (XRD) from 16 degrees C onwards, this material does not show satisfactory features for radiation dosimetry, but could be employed for temperature calibration of TL readers.

Crystallization↗

Study of the ultraviolet emission of the electrode coatings of arc welding.

The optical emission properties of several minerals components employed in electrode coatings of arc welding have been investigated. The X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the composition of 14 commercial electrode coatings collected from different countries (Spain, France, UK, Poland, Argentina and Germany), consists of quartz, calcite, sodium and potassium rich feldspars, muscovite and rutile. The natural thermal stimulated luminescence (TSL) of these mineral phases, measured in the range of 200-800 nm at different temperatures (from room temperature to 400 degrees C) displays UV-A (wavelengths of 320 nm to 400 nm) and UV-B (from 280 nm to 320 nm) emissions, with the exception of rutile. The UV-B radiation, commonly described as the most dangerous form of radiation to human life, is here associated with structural defects in the crystallographic lattice of the mineral components of electrode coatings.

Electrodes↗

Fungal bioturbation paths in a compact disk.

We report here on bioturbation traces, with micro-dendrite textures, composed of a mixture of altered aluminum and polycarbonate, which have been developed in a common compact disk (CD), destroying information pits. Fungal hyphae proliferated in these deteriorated zones, and Geotrichum-type fungus was isolated from surface-sterilized CD fragments. The severe biodeterioration described is attributed to the slow growth of this arthroconidial fungus on the CD material in the tropical indoor environment of Belize, Central America (approximately 30 degrees C, approximately 90% humidity).

Aluminum↗

Analysis of luminescence spectra of leucite (KAISiO4).

High-sensitivity radioluminescence (RL) and thermoluminescence (TL) measurements were carried out on samples of natural leucite (with 2.95% of Na2O) from Campania Vessa (Italy). Samples were annealed to modify the charge compensation through alkali metal self-diffusion and to produce luminescence centres. High-temperature powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and chemical analyses were performed to monitor the tetragonal-cubic phase transitions and the thermal drainage of alkali metal ions from the aluminosilicate lattice. The emission spectral bands of leucite (300, 380, 430, 480, 560 and 680 nm) match those of other Na/K-aluminosilicates (alkali metal feldspars) and could be attributed to similar defects. TL glow curves of increasingly pre-irradiated natural leucite (range 0-20 Gy) showed no changes above 300 degrees C, whereas some changes were observed with annealed samples (1000 degrees C for 12 h). This temperature is the starting point of Na self-diffusion within the aluminosilicate lattices. The areas of the TL glow curves of both natural and annealed beta-irradiated leucites can be fitted with a linear function with high correlation. These results are in agreement with high alkali metal loss (K2O approximately 12% and Na2O approximately 18%) during thermal pre-treatment, high cell volume expansion (from 2350 to 2500 A) and the cubic la3d reversible tetragonal I4l/a phase transition. This promotes the egress of alkali metal ions and the production of [AlO4/M+]o, [AlO4/H+]o and [AlO4]o luminescence centres.

Journal Article↗