Abstract
Effects of gamma irradiation at different doses up to 135 kGy on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymer films have been investigated by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and ultraviolet‐visible (UV‐VIS) spectroscopy. From XRD analysis, it was found that even at a high dose of gamma irradiation of 135 kGy, crystallinity of the PET samples remain unchanged. However, the FTIR peak at 871 cm−1 (depicting C–H bending mode of out‐of‐plane vibration) and another at 1303 cm−1 (representing C–H bending mode of in‐plane vibration) disappear for gamma‐irradiated PET. In this study, it has also been found that γ‐irradiation in air enhances the optical absorption in the wavelength region 320–370 nm. This has been attributed to free radicals being produced in the polymer by the γ‐radiation. Further, the free radicals react with oxygen of air to form carbonyl group and hydroxyls. With increasing γ‐dose, there is a red shift of the UV—near visible cutoff for PET. XRD and FTIR observations on γ‐damage have been correlated.
Highlights
Radiation damage to various polymers [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12] due to irradiation by either fast ions or energetic neutrons or high energy photons is a topic of practical and theoretical interest
In earlier efforts [8,9,10,11], we studied radiation damage in engineering polymers and in ion conducting polymers like PEO-salt compounds
No growth of amorphous phase at the expense of the (100) plane crystallinity was detected. This is in contrast to 4.39 MeV/u Xe ion irradiation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to a fluence of 1.0 × 1012 ions/cm2 that destroyed the crystallinity, as indicated by (100) plane, completely, and the material underwent amorphization [13]
Summary
Radiation damage to various polymers [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12] due to irradiation by either fast ions or energetic neutrons or high energy photons is a topic of practical and theoretical interest. The practical interest in such radiation damage pertains to utility factor and various applications. PET or polyethylene terephthalate films have attracted interest as polymers due to their ample application and wide availability. The changes, due to Mo, N, O, and Kr ion irradiations [4, 12] in PET structure, have been reported, and correlation of these changes to other properties were attempted. Many aspects of damages due to γ-radiation and fast ions are not yet clearly understood so that more experimental data are welcome
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