Comparative Study between Self-Developed Plastic Scintillators and EJ-276D

[Purpose] This study aims to conduct comparative performance tests between the Ø2.54 cm×2.54 cm and Ø5.08 cm×5.08 cm self-developed plastic scintillators (SD-PS) and EJ-276D. [Methods] A testing platform was established using photomultiplier tube (PMT) and a high-speed digitizer to comparatively evaluate the radiation response performance of Ø2.54 cm×2.54 cm and Ø5.08 cm×5.08 cm self-developed right cylindrical plastic scintillators with two different formulations, alongside EJ-276D scintillators of corresponding sizes.

Energy calibration was performed for each scintillator using a 137Cs source to determine the relative light output, confirming that the reproducibility from test method was less than 5%. A 252Cf fission ionization chamber was employed to assess the neutron-gamma discrimination capability of the four plastic scintillators, and each scintillator was also utilized to measure the neutron-gamma time-of-flight spectrum of the 252Cf source, from which the Figure of Merit (FoM), relative detection efficiency, timing accuracy, and gamma misidentification were derived.