New chemical Fricke gel radiation dosimeter

Dosimetric gel is used in several measurements due to its linearity, low cost, and possibility for 3D measurements. This work brings a new possibility to apply the Fricke Xylenol Gel recipe in the diagnostic measurements region. The Fricke Xilenol Gel (FXG) dosimeter is associated with the Fe(II) to Fe(III) oxidation, when irradiated, being the final ion concentration proportional to the absorbed dose. To achieve the scope, the former dosimeter was modified through the benzoic acid addition in the original recipe forming a new dosimeter, the Benzoic Xylenol Gel (BFXG). The results obtained with this new dosimeter demonstrated a higher sensibility for low absorbed dose values, bringing down the absorbed dose inferior limit from 0.1 to 0.006 Gy, that is more adequate for radiodiagnostic absorbed dose measurements. This result shows the possibly of BFXG dosimeter to be used for measurements in the radiodiagnostic region, as for tomography and mammography techniques. (author)