Gamma induced changes in the structural and optical properties of Makrofol LS 1–1 polycarbonate

ABSTRACT

Samples from sheets of the polymeric material Makrofol LS 1–1 have been exposed to gamma radiation in the dose range 10–250 kGy. The modifications induced in Makrofol samples due to gamma irradiation have been studied through different characterization techniques such as intrinsic viscosity as a measure of the average molecular mass, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy FTIR, refractive index and color difference studies. The results indicate that the crosslinking dominates at the dose range 50–250 kGy. The crosslinking reported by viscosity measurements is supported by the trend of the function groups present in the sample with the gamma dose. Also, the increase in intrinsic viscosity indicating an increase in the average molecular mass was associated with an increase in the refractive index. Additionally, the non-irradiated Makrofol samples showed significant color sensitivity towards gamma irradiation. The color intensity ΔE, which is the color difference between the non-irradiated sample and those irradiated with different gamma doses, increased (0–5.56) with increasing the dose up to 250 kGy, convoyed by an increase in the red and yellow color components.

KEYWORDS:

• Gamma irradiation
• Makrofol
• viscosity
• FTIR
• optical properties

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.