The impact of fluorescent dyes on the performances of polystyrene-based plastic scintillators

To investigate the influence of both the first luminescent additive and the wavelength-shifter on the performance of plastic scintillator, a series of polystyrene-based scintillator had been prepared by thermal polymerization. Three first luminescent additives (PPO, p-TP and b-PBD) and four wavelength-shifters (POPOP, Bis-MSB, Me-MSB and DPA) were added to the scintillators respectively. The comparison results showed that PPO and POPOP were the most adequate fluorescent dyes for the polystyrene-based plastic scintillator. Moreover, with the increase of the concentration of PPO and POPOP, the fluorescence intensity and light yield were increased firstly and then decreased. The plastic scintillator containing 2% PPO and 0.02% POPOP had the highest fluorescence intensity and light yield.