Crystal growth and thermoluminescence response of NaZr2(PO4)3 at high gamma radiation doses

Graphical abstract: -- Highlights: •NaZr2(PO4)3 exposed to gamma doses of 10, 30 and 50 MGy. •Gamma radiation produced growth of the crystal size of the NZP. •Morphology changes were reversible by heating. •Linear relationship between the thermoluminescence and the applied gamma dose. •This property could be useful for high-level gamma dosimetry. -- Abstract: This work describes the synthesis and characterization of NaZr2(PO4)3. The stability of this material under high doses of gamma radiation was investigated in the range of 10–50 MGy. Samples of unaltered and gamma irradiated NaZr2(PO4)3 were characterized by X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and thermoluminescence. The results showed that while functional groups were not affected by the gamma irradiation, morphology changes were observed with increasing doses of gamma irradiation. The morphology of the non-irradiated compound is agglomerated flakes; however, irradiation at 10 MGy splits the flakes inducing the formation of well-defined cubes. Gamma irradiation induced the crystal size of the NaZr2(PO4)3 to grow. The heat treatment (973 K) of samples irradiated at 50 MGy resulted in the recovery of the original morphology. Furthermore, the thermoluminescence analysis of the irradiated compound is reported