Radiation Induced Changes in Makrofol PCVM Polycarbonate

Abstract

Makrofol PCVM is a sort of Makrofol polycarbonate solid state nuclear track detector. It is worth mentioning that this paper is almost the first one that deals with the modification of the optical properties of this type of Makrofol under the effect of laser radiation. Samples from Makrofol PCVM were exposed to infrared pulsed laser with different fluences ranging from 15 to 125 J/cm2 . UV spectroscopic technique was used to obtain knowledge about the optical parameters that describe the samples under study. The changes of Urbach energy (Eu ), optical band gap (Eg ) and refractive index (n) with the laser fluence were investigated. Both Eu and n increased with increasing the fluence up to 125 J/cm2 , associated with a decrease of Eg values. These trends were assigned to the predominance of chain crosslinking that damaged the crystalline portion in the Makrofol polymer. Additionally, we used the CIE technique to calculate the color differences between the noncoloured pristine and the irradiated samples. The crosslinking created color centers that produced color difference between the exposed films and the uncolored pristine Makrofol film. The color difference was significant as the values of ΔE were greater than 5. This optimized the Makrofol polymer to be used in dosimetric applications.