Defect-resistant plastic scintillators with aliphatic additives

Abstract

A plastic scintillator includes a polymer matrix, an aliphatic additive present in the polymer matrix in an effective amount to impart fog resistance to the plastic scintillator, and at least one fluorescent dye in the polymer matrix, the dye being effective to provide scintillation upon exposure to radiation. The effective amount of the aliphatic additive is in a range of greater than 0 weight percent up to 5 weight percent relative to the total weight of the plastic scintillator. Moreover, the aliphatic additive has a structure comprising up to 300 repeat units.