Experimental scintillator purification tests with silica gel chromatography

Liquid scintillators used in low counting rate experiments—like the neutrino experiments Borexino [Astroparticle Physics 16 (2002) 205] and Kamland [Nucl. Phys. Proc. Suppl. 145 (2005) 11]—usually have to fulfil high requirements concerning their radiopurity. In this context, silica gel chromatography is a promising purification method to extract traces of polar impurities from liquid scintillators. This publication presents a purification model along with the results of new laboratory experiments, which among others examine a purification mode predicted to be particularly efficient. Possible limitations in the purification capability of silica gel are investigated.