70 MeV Carbon C⁵⁺ ion beam induced modifications in polyethylene terphthalate polymer

Abstract

<smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"><smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"><smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"> Physical and chemical changes induced by 70 MeV carbon ions C⁵⁺ have been studied in bulk polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymer by UV-Visible (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). Swift Heavy Ion (SHI) irradiation was carried out in vacuum at the Pelletron facility of Nuclear Science Centre, New Delhi, India using ion beam fluences of 3.0×10¹¹, 3.7×10¹², 1.8×10¹³ and 5.6×10¹³ and 1.2×10¹⁴ ions/cm². UV-Visible spectra reveal both chain-scission and cross-linking of PET. FTIR spectra show a significant loss of crystallinity at low radiation doses but recovery of pristine structure at a fluence of 5.6×10¹³ ions/cm². Both UV-Visible and FTIR spectra support the conclusion that molecular reorientation of PET leading to recovery of original structure is affected at high irradiation dose of carbon ions. XRD spectra for both virgin and irradiated PET also confirm this conclusion. </smarttagtype></smarttagtype></smarttagtype>