Aging study of Gd concentration in LAB-based Gd loaded liquid scintillator exposed to passivated stainless steel

Abstract

Stainless steel is a candidate of the inner surface of the storage container for LAB-based Gadolinium loaded liquid scintillator (Gd-LS) to be used in the JSNS$^2$ neutrino detector. Aging effect on Gd concentration of Gd-LS was investigated with the Gd-LS sample stored in the passivated stainless steel bottle in two independent methods. The direct comparison of the neutron capture time measurement showed that there is no significant degradation of the capture time after 602 days aging. Titration was performed to measure Gd concentration, and the result after 466 days aging is consistent with the result before aging within the uncertainty of the measurement. The upper limit of degradation of Gd concentration in 21 kL tank case is estimated as 0.5 % for 10 years of storage. Both results lead to a conclusion that stainless steel is usable for Gd-LS storage for JSNS$^2$ experiment.