A spectrophotometric readout method for free radical dosimetry

An accurate and inexpensive spectrophotometric readout method is given for free radical dosimetry. The stable free radicals in irradiated alanine/glutamine powder, when dissolved in a solution containing ferrous ammonium sulphate and xylenol orange in 0.05 N H₂SO₄(FX), oxidize ferrous ions and the xylenol orange forms a complex with ferric ions produced in the solution. The absorbance of the complex is measured at 525 nm for alanine and at 540 nm for glutamine. The influence of various parameters, such as size of the container, weight of the powder dissolved, xylenol orange concentration, purity of distilled water, postirradiation stability and dose-rate dependence on the response of the dosimetric technique, has been investigated. It was found that the dosimetric response is independent of dose-rate. Alanine does not show any significant postirradiation fading. Irradiated glutamine powder is stable for about a month, the fading is less than 2% up to three months later, and it increases to only about 5% over a period of six months. The reproducibility of the method is better than ±2%, and it offers an alternative to ESR and lyoluminescence techniques for free radical dosimetry. A dose of 0.01 to 4 kGy can be measured with an alanine dosimeter and 0.1 to 100 kGy with a glutamine dosimeter. Empirical relationships between absorbance and dose are given.