Neutron moderation and manufacturing viability of 3D printed Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene spheres for use in neutron radiation detectors

Neutron moderation characteristics and manufacturing viability of ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) spheres were studied using a 6LiI(Eu) scintillator detector and a commercial 3D printer with FDM-type extruder. Response functions (RFs) for the detector with ABS spheres of varying diameters were calculated with the Monte Carlo (MC) code MCNPX and compared with RFs obtained for high-density polyethylene (HDPE) spheres. Designed ABS spheres were produced and irradiated with 241Am-Be neutron beams to validate MC simulations.