In Search for an Ionic Liquid with the Best Performance during (210)Pb/(210)Bi Cherenkov Counting in Waters on an LS Counter

The research presented in this paper aims to investigate the performance of several newly synthesized ionic liquids during (210)Pb/(210)Bi detection in water on a liquid scintillation spectrometer Quantulus 1220 via Cherenkov counting. These experiments have been triggered by the recent reports that certain ionic liquids can act as wavelength shifters, thus significantly increasing the detection efficiency of Cherenkov radiation. The benefit of ionic liquid’s addition to the analysed samples is reflected in the detection limit’s decrement during (210)Pb quantification, which is pertinent considering naturally low levels of (210)Pb in aqueous samples. Firstly, it was discovered that ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium salicylate, is more efficient than the previously explored 2-hydroxypropylammonium salicylate. Consequently, the impact of a few other ionic liquids on Cherenkov counting efficiency with the same cation group (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium benzoate, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium 3-hydroxybenzoate and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium 4-hydroxybenzoate) was also explored to test their potential influence. Molecular simulations have been carried out to reveal which structures of ionic liquids assure wavelength-shifting behavior. The obtained results confirmed that, among the investigated ones, only ionic liquids with the salicylate anion exhibited a wavelength shifting effect.