This work reports the fabrication and optical characterization of ultraviolet-emitting plastic scintillators based on polystyrene [-(CH2-CH(C6H5))n-] and polyvinyltoluene [-(CH2-CH(C6H4CH3))n-] doped with different concentrations of naphthalene (Naph). Photoluminescence (PL) measurements show that Naph incorporation enhances the emission intensity, inducing a red shift in the emission wavelength of the polystyrene (PS), while Naph-doped polyvinyltoluene (PVT) exhibits a bimodal emission with peaks around 335 and 350 nm. Time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) reveals fast decay components for the undoped matrices and a dominant slow component of approximately 87 ns in the doped samples. Scintillation light yield measurements indicate moderate performance for the undoped polymers and a significant enhancement upon Naph doping. Proton irradiation experiments reveal a reduction in light yield for all samples, with Naph-doped PVT retaining a larger fraction of its initial light yield compared to PS-based scintillators, indicating improved radiation tolerance. Overall, these results demonstrate the effectiveness of Naph as a UV emission enhancer and highlight Naph-doped PVT as a promising candidate for compact and radiation-resistant scintillation detectors.
@article{arxiv.2605.12861,
title = {Ultraviolet plastic scintillators based on naphthalene-doped polystyrene and polyvinyltoluene},
author = {Nicolás Agustín Molina and Victoria Alejandra Gómez Andrade and Javier Martín Abbas and Alan Fuster and Luciano Ferreyro and Martín Alurralde and Martin Mirenda and María Dolores Pérez and Paula Guidici},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.12861},
year = {2026}
}