Modification induced by proton irradiation in Makrofol-DE polycarbonate

Makrofol-De Polycarbonate is a class of polymeric solid state nuclear track detector which has many applications in various radiation detection fields. In the present work, Makrofol samples were irradiated using different fluences (10(11)-10(15)/cm(2)) of 1 MeV protons at the University of Surrey Ion Beam Center, UK. The structural modifications in the proton irradiated Makrofol samples have been studied as a function of fluence using different characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, differential thermal analysis and color difference studies. The proton irradiation in the fluence range 10(14)-10(15)/cm(2) led to a more compact structure of Makrofol polymer, which resulted in an improvement in its thermal stability with an increase in the activation energy of thermal decomposition. The melting temperature of the polymer, T-m, was investigated to probe the crystalline domains of the polymer. At a fluence range of 10(14)-10(15)/cm(2), the defect generated destroys the crystalline structure, thereby reducing the melting temperature. Further, the transmission of these samples in the wavelength range of 200-2500nm, as well as any color changes, was studied. The color intensity Delta E* was greatly increased with increasing the proton fluence, and was accompanied by a significant increase in the red and yellow color components. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.