Degradation diagnosis of ultrahigh-molecular weight polyethylene with terahertz-time-domain spectroscopy

We investigated ultrahigh-molecular-weight-polyethylene (UHMWPE) samples prepared by various conditions with terahertz-time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). Degradation of the virgin UHMWPE samples by gamma irradiation induced a drastic increase of the absorption ranging continuously over the THz region. The increase of the absorption continuum is interpreted to originate in the oxidation of the amorphous region within the sample. Only slight THz spectral changes induced by the gamma irradiation were, however, observed for the UHMWPE samples doped with 0.1 and 0.3 wt % vitamin E. This result agrees with the earlier indication that vitamin E has an antidegradation effect on UHMWPE. The present result shows that the THz-TDS can be used for the quality control of UHMWPE by monitoring the absorption continuum in the THz region. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.