Study of electrical properties of a novel dosimeter based on polymer-carbon nanotube nano-composite

Use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in dosimetry is a promising technique for real time in vivo dose measurements with high resolution for nuclear medicine and also dose rate monitoring for radiation protection utilizations. In this research with respect to extraordinary electrical properties of CNTs for several order of magnitudes increasing in electrical conductivity of polymeric matrix, the idea of application of polymer-CNT composite is introduced. One of the effective factors in the response of this kind of dosimeter is electrical conductivity variation due to radiation absorption. In this research, we simulated electrical conductivity of polyethylene-CNT composite with COMSOL Multiphysics software in different weight percentages of CNTs and then percolation threshold for two kinds of geometries random and array was evaluated and compared with Bruggeman Symmetric Equation. The results of simulation showed that the application of COMSOL software for evaluating effective electrical conductivity of PE-CNT composite is suitable for dosimetry purpose.