Gamma Ray Induced Changes in Polycarbonate/Poly(Methyl Methacrylate)/Polystyrene Blend Films: Linear and Nonlinear Optical Properties

Abstract

In our research described in this article, we used a solution casting technique to prepare a blend film containing polycarbonate (PC), poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and polystyrene (PS) polymers. Samples from the prepared PC/PMMA/PS films were irradiated with γ ray doses ranging from 20 to 160 kGy. We used UV-vis spectroscopy to investigate the resulting effects of the γ ray irradiation on the optical properties of the prepared films. When the γ ray dose was increased up to 160 kGy, the maximum dose used, the direct bandgap was decreased from 3.68 to 2.90 eV, associated with an increase of Urbach energy from 0.82 to 1.03 eV. Also, we used the optical dielectric loss (ε″) to detect the type of microelectronic transition for the PC/PMMA/PS blend films, which was found to be a direct allowed transition. The γ ray effects on the absorbance, extinction coefficient, refractive index, dielectric parameters, optical conductivity and the nonlinear parameters of the blend films were studied. The enhancement in the optical properties indicated that the γ radiation is a useful tool that allows the application of the resulting PC/PMMA/PS blend films in optoelectronic devices.