Substantial influence of magnesium chloride inorganic salt (MgCl2) on the polymer dosimeter containing N-(Hydroxymethyl)acrylamide for radiation therapy

•A N-(Hydroxymethyl) acrylamide gel dosimeter with magnesium chloride was proposed in this study.•The gel sensitivity with 1000 mM MgCl2 was found to be approximately 5.1 times higher than the same gel without MgCl2.•No significant dose rate and radiation beam energy dependence in gel dosimeters.•The dosimeter response was almost stable for up to 8 days. The influence MgCl2 on the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signal of radiation-induced polymerization of N-(Hydroxymethyl)acrylamide polymer gel (NHMAGAT) dosimeter was investigated in this study. The gels were irradiated via a 6 MV X-ray radiation beam (produced by medical linear accelerator) with doses ranging from 0.25 to 5 Gy. NMR spectroscopy with 0.5 T was used as a tool for measuring the relaxation rate (R2) of gel samples before and after irradiation. The sensitivity of NHMAGAT with a concentration of 1000 mM MgCl2 was found to be approximately 5.1 times higher than the same gel without MgCl2 in the range dose response of 0–2 Gy. Moreover, the key factors like dose-rate, scanning temperature, radiation-energy, the stability of the polymerization post-irradiation were studied.