Session: Undergraduate Research Posters: Polymer Chemistry:

Scintillating plastics are an inexpensive means of detecting a variety of ionizing radiation (X-rays, gamma rays, neutrons) from low to high flux environments. Most scintillating materials are either classified as inorganic (CsI, NaI) or organic scintillating agents (anthracene, naphthalene). The brightness of these scintillating materials greatly affects the performance and sensitivity of the detector. A series of scintillating plastics were fabricated utilizing lanthanide coordination compounds embedded in matrices of either polystyrene or polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). The optical properties of these lanthanide coordination complexes will be presented in various organic solvents. Preparation of the organometallic complex containing scintillating plastics proved difficult on account of the temperatures and oxygen free environment needed for optimal thermosetting of these materials. Screening of conditions led to the discovery that many of these organometallic-based scintillating materials degraded in solution and at temperatures exceeding 120 °C. Comparison of conditions including temperature, duration of heating, type and concentration of radical initiator used for preparing polystyrene and PMMA plastics will be presented as well as discussions of quality of polymer formed.

Elisabeth Fatila

Louisiana Tech University

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