Problem:
Plastic scintillators are fabricated via a thermally initiated radical bulk polymerization. This process is air sensitive and time and energy intensive (5-7 days in academic settings).
Hypothesis:
Adapting technology and chemistry from the dental industry may allow for a quicker photopolymerization of plastic scintillators.
Summary of Results:
Plastic scintillators are fabricated via a thermally initiated radical bulk polymerization. This process is air sensitive and time and energy intensive (5-7 days in academic settings).
Hypothesis:
Adapting technology and chemistry from the dental industry may allow for a quicker photopolymerization of plastic scintillators.
Summary of Results:
- A two part photo-initiating system used in the dental industry combined with a dimethacrylate cross-linker allowed from bulk polymerization of 20g plastic scintillators.
- Photo-polymerized plastic scintillators were fabricated by a 2 hour light exposure followed by a 70C post-cure, in air.
- Despite the shorter fabrication time in air (5 fold reduction), photo-polymerized plastic scintillators performed comparable to thermally initiated analogs.