@article{oai:repo.qst.go.jp:00046160,
 author = {Nakamura, Hidehito and Kitamura, Hisashi and Hazama, Ryuta and 中村 秀仁 and 北村 尚},
 issue = {2122},
 journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society. Series A},
 month = {May},
 note = {This study demonstrates that the energy resolution of a newly developed 100 per cent pure polyvinyltoluene (PVT) plate allows its use as a base material for a plastic scintillator. The energy resolution, which is a key element for high-performance radiation detectors, was ΔE/E=8.41±0.07% (full width at half maximum (FWHM)) for 976 keV K-line conversion electrons from a 207Bi source. On the basis of results from 207Bi and 137Cs sources, the observed energy resolution of the PVT plate, ΔE/E=8.2/E1/2% (FWHM), was slightly better than that of a typical plastic scintillator (BC-408), ΔE/E=8.7/E1/2% (FWHM), with E in units of MeV. These results prompted us to search for other new base materials for plastic scintillators. In this study, we examined polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, a common source of domestic plastic waste. We demonstrated that a lump of heat-proof PET bottles is fluorescent; moreover, there is excellent compatibility of the fluorescence with the quantum efficiency of typical photomultiplier tubes. This inexpensive source of plastic appears suitable for radiation measurements and as a base material for plastic scintillators. Future studies on the radiation response of plastics should lead to the development of higher performance and more eco-friendly radiation detectors.},
 pages = {2847--2856},
 title = {Radiation measurements with heat-proof polyethylene terephthalate bottles},
 volume = {466},
 year = {2010}
}