A Study on the radon removal performance of low background activated carbon

TL;DR

This study evaluates the radon removal efficiency of Saratech activated carbon at low temperatures, using a high-sensitivity detection system to understand its potential for reducing backgrounds in rare-event experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a measurement system for assessing radon adsorption of activated carbon and provides data on Saratech carbon's performance at various low temperatures.

Findings

Radon detection sensitivity of 0.71 mBq/m³ achieved.

Effective radon adsorption observed at low temperatures.

Measurement system enables precise evaluation of activated carbon radon removal.

Abstract

Radon and radon daughters pose significant backgrounds to rare-event searching experiments. Activated carbon, which has very strong adsorption capacity for radon, can be used for radon removal and radon enrichment. The internal $^{226}$Ra concentration ultimately limits its radon enrichment ability. In order to measure the intrinsic background and study the radon adsorption capability of Saratech activated carbon at various temperatures, a radon-emanation measurement system with a high-sensitivity radon detector and an adsorption-performance research-system have been developed. In this paper, a 0.71~mBq/m$^3$ high-sensitivity radon detector and measurement details of the radon-adsorption capability of Saratech activated carbon at low temperature will be presented.