Specific properties improvement of polycarbonate induced by irradiation at elevated particular temperature

The properties and structures of polycarbonate (PC) changed by electron beam irradiation at the glass transition temperature (T-g) were investigated using the various measurements as thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and mechanical tests (tensile, hardness, wear, and impact properties). The T-g of irradiated PC sheets increases around 10 kGy, then decreases at high doses. Meanwhile, the ordered structure in the amorphous phase of samples was almost same up to 70 kGy by XRD. The wear resistance, hardness, and impact strength increased with dose and reached the maximum at around 10 kGy, then decreased at the higher doses. The tensile strength changed similar to impact strength, but the elongation at break decreased to the half at 10 kGy. The improvement of specific properties is explained to be dense molecular packing in matrix by re-arrangement of molecules with synergistic effects of radiation and thermal mobility via high temperature irradiation. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.