Gadolinium oxysulfide ( Gd₂ O₂ S), also called gadolinium sulfoxylate, GOS or Gadox, is an

inorganic In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as '' inorganic chemist ...

compound, a mixed

oxide An oxide () is a chemical compound that contains at least one oxygen atom and one other element in its chemical formula. "Oxide" itself is the dianion of oxygen, an O2– (molecular) ion. with oxygen in the oxidation state of −2. Most of the E ...

sulfide Sulfide (British English also sulphide) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. ''Sulfide'' also refers to chemical compounds lar ...

gadolinium Gadolinium is a chemical element with the symbol Gd and atomic number 64. Gadolinium is a silvery-white metal when oxidation is removed. It is only slightly malleable and is a ductile rare-earth element. Gadolinium reacts with atmospheric oxygen ...

Uses

The main use of gadolinium oxysulfide is in ceramic

scintillator A scintillator is a material that exhibits scintillation, the property of luminescence, when excited by ionizing radiation. Luminescent materials, when struck by an incoming particle, absorb its energy and scintillate (i.e. re-emit the absorbed ...

s. Scintillators are used in

radiation detector In experimental and applied particle physics, nuclear physics, and nuclear engineering, a particle detector, also known as a radiation detector, is a device used to detect, track, and/or identify ionizing particles, such as those produced by nuc ...

s for

medical diagnostics Medical diagnosis (abbreviated Dx, Dx, or Ds) is the process of determining which disease or condition explains a person's symptoms and signs. It is most often referred to as diagnosis with the medical context being implicit. The information re ...

. The scintillator is the primary radiation sensor that emits light when struck by high energy photons. Gd₂O₂S based ceramics exhibit final densities of 99.7% to 99.99% of the theoretical density (7.32 g/cm³) and an average grain size ranging from 5 micrometers to 50 micrometers in dependence with the fabrication procedure. Two powder preparation routes have been successful for synthesizing Gd₂O₂S: Pr, Ce, F powder complexes for the ceramic scintillators. These preparations routes are called the

halide In chemistry, a halide (rarely halogenide) is a binary chemical compound, of which one part is a halogen atom and the other part is an element or radical that is less electronegative (or more electropositive) than the halogen, to make a fluor ...

flux Flux describes any effect that appears to pass or travel (whether it actually moves or not) through a surface or substance. Flux is a concept in applied mathematics and vector calculus which has many applications to physics. For transport ph ...

method and the

sulfite Sulfites or sulphites are compounds that contain the sulfite ion (or the sulfate(IV) ion, from its correct systematic name), . The sulfite ion is the conjugate base of bisulfite. Although its acid ( sulfurous acid) is elusive, its salts are wide ...

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

method. The scintillation properties of Gd₂O₂S: Pr, Ce, F complexes demonstrate that this scintillator is promising for imaging applications. There are two main disadvantages to this scintillator; one being the hexagonal crystal structure, which emits only optical translucency and low external light collection at the photodiode. The other disadvantage is the high

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

damage to the sample.

Terbium Terbium is a chemical element with the symbol Tb and atomic number 65. It is a silvery-white, rare earth metal that is malleable, and ductile. The ninth member of the lanthanide series, terbium is a fairly electropositive metal that reacts with wa ...

activated "Activated" is a song by English singer Cher Lloyd. It was released on 22 July 2016 through Vixen Records. The song was made available to stream exclusively on ''Rolling Stone'' a day before to release (on 21 July 2016). Background In an interv ...

gadolinium oxysulfide is frequently used as a

for

x-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

imaging. It emits wavelengths between 382-622 nm, though the primary emission peak is at 545 nm. It is also used as a green

phosphor A phosphor is a substance that exhibits the phenomenon of luminescence; it emits light when exposed to some type of radiant energy. The term is used both for fluorescent or phosphorescent substances which glow on exposure to ultraviolet or vi ...

in projection CRTs, though its drawback is marked lowering of efficiency at higher temperature

Variants include, for example, using

praseodymium Praseodymium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pr and the atomic number 59. It is the third member of the lanthanide series and is considered to be one of the rare-earth metals. It is a soft, silvery, malleable and ductile ...

instead of terbium (

CAS registry number A CAS Registry Number (also referred to as CAS RN or informally CAS Number) is a unique identification number assigned by the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), US to every chemical substance described in the open scientific literature. It inclu ...

EINECS number The European Community number (EC number) is a unique seven-digit identifier that was assigned to substances for regulatory purposes within the European Union by the European Commission. The ''EC Inventory'' comprises three individual inventories ...

271-826-9), or using a mixture of

dysprosium Dysprosium is the chemical element with the symbol Dy and atomic number 66. It is a rare-earth element in the lanthanide series with a metallic silver luster. Dysprosium is never found in nature as a free element, though, like other lanthanides, it ...

and terbium for doping (CAS number ,

271-824-8). Gadolinium oxysulfide is a promising luminescent host material, because of its high density (7.32 g/cm³) and high effective atomic number of Gd. These characteristics lead to a high interaction probability for X-ray radiation. Several synthesis routes have been developed for processing Gd₂O₂S phosphors, including: solid state reaction method, reduction method, combustion synthesis method,

emulsion An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Althoug ...

liquid membrane method, and gas sulfuration method. The solid state reaction method and reduction methods are most commonly used because of their high reliability, low cost, and high luminescent properties. (Gd0.99, Pr0.01)2O2S sub-microphosphors synthesized by homogeneous precipitation method are very promising for a new green emitting material to be applied to the high resolution digital X-ray imaging field Gadolinium oxysulfide powder phosphors are intensively used for conversion of X-rays to visible light in medical X-ray imaging. Gd₂O₂S: Pr based solid state X-ray detectors have been successfully reintroduced to X-ray sampling in medical computed tomography (imaging by sections or sectioning, through the use of any kind of penetrating wave).

Crystal Structure

The crystal structure of gadolinium oxysulfide has Trigonal symmetry (space group number 164). Each gadolinium ion is coordinated by four oxygen atoms and three sulfur atoms in a non-inversion symmetric arrangement. The Gd₂O₂S structure is a sulfur layer with double layers of gadolinium and oxygen in between.

Toxicity

An approved respirator should be worn if exposure to dust could occur when working with gadolinium oxysulfide. Inhalation may result in lung injuries. Exposure to gadolinium compounds may cause lung and/or liver damage. Gloves are highly recommended when skin contact is likely. Contact with the skin may cause rash, redness or dermatitis. Gadolinium oxysulfide should be stored away from mineral acids, strong oxidizers and flammable materials. When Gadolinium oxysulfide comes in contact with mineral acids, hydrogen sulfide can be produced.Gadolinium Oxysulfide; MSDS nline R.H. Mangels: Hackettstown, NJ, March 15, 1997. http://www.nonius.nl/manualspdf/msdsGadolinumOxysulfide.pdf (accessed October 17, 2011)

References

{{Gadolinium compounds Gadolinium compounds Oxides Sulfides Phosphors and scintillators Mixed anion compounds