The synthesis of plastic scintillating microspheres (PSM) and the application in β detection

Plastic scintillating microsphere (PSM) is a new type of plastic scintillator with a particle size in the micrometer range, which has potential application prospects in the field of radioactivity monitoring. This paper introduces a new method for the synthesis of PSM, using polystyrene microspheres (PM) as the matrix, styrene benzene as the precursor solution, 2,5-diphenyl oxazole (PPO) as the scintillator, and 1,4-bis(5-phenyl-2-oxazolyl) benzene (POPOP) as the wavelength shifter, to synthesize the PSM. The average particle size is about 17.5μm, and a fluorescent agent encapsulation thickness is about 5.86μm. It was shown the maximum detection efficiency of PSM for ³H, ⁵⁵Fe, ⁶³Ni, ¹⁴C, and ⁹⁰Sr is 1.8%, 3.85%, 16.2%, 36.4%, and 65.0%, respectively. After only one round of the rinsing procedure, the adsorption residue of radioactive nuclides on the PSM is below 0.5%.