Polyvinyl toluene
{{Short description|Synthetic polymer}}
Polyvinyltoluene (PVT, polyvinyl toluene) is a synthetic polymer of alkylbenzenes with a linear formula [CH2CH(C6H4CH3)]n. Commercial vinyl toluene is a mixture of methyl styrene isomers.{{cite book |last1=Birks |first1=J. B. |last2=Fry |first2=D. W. |last3=Costrell |first3=L. |last4=Kandiah |first4=K. |title=The Theory and Practice of Scintillation Counting: International Series of Monographs in Electronics and Instrumentation |date=1964 |publisher=Pergamon |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/theorypracticeof0000unse_p8g4/page/n5/mode/2up |isbn=9780080104720}}{{page needed|date=November 2024}}{{additional citation needed|reason=A book on scintillation counting probably isn't the best primary source for description of the chemical itself because of domain specificity.|date=November 2024}}
File:Chemical_formula_for_polyvinyl_tolulene.png|chemical formula for PVT
Uses
PVT can be doped with anthracene or other wavelength-shifting dopants to produce a plastic scintillator.{{page needed|date=November 2024}} When subjected to ionizing radiation (both particle radiation and gamma radiation), the amount of visible radiation emitted is proportional to the absorbed dose as long as the energy loss per length is not too large. A relation applicable to a wide range of values for energy loss per unit length is given by Birks' Law.
PVT can be damaged by radiation with high stopping power, e.g. ion beams or by any kind of ionizing radiation. A review of radiation damage for PVT and other similar plastic scintillators can be found in Instrumentation in High Energy Physics.{{cite book|last1=Sauli|first1=F.|title=Instrumentation in High Energy Physics|date=1993|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=978-981-02-0597-3|edition=2nd}}{{page needed|date=November 2024}} Such radiation breaks the C-H bonds and creates color centers{{definition needed|reason=Does this refer to chromophores, which don't seem to be a possible result, or something else?|date=November 2024}} which absorb the produced light, significantly reducing the light output.{{cite journal|last1=Bross|display-authors=etal|first1=A.|title=Radiation damage of plastic scintillators|journal=IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.|date=1992|volume=39|issue=5 |page=1199|doi=10.1109/23.173178|bibcode=1992ITNS...39.1199B }}
Following the increase in interest in Vinyl Records (as of 2022), PVT is being looked at as a replacement for PVC, the usual and historic material used to make Vinyl Records. PVT is considered more environmentally friendly{{by who?|date=November 2024}} than its older cousin PVC.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}