Fast electron damage mechanism of epoxy resin studied by electron energy loss spectroscopy and electron diffraction

The damage mechanism and exposure tolerance of epoxy resins to fast electrons remain unclear. We quantitatively investigated the effects of electron irradiation on a common epoxy resin by dose-dependent electron energy loss spectroscopy. The results show that sp(3) states of nitrogen, oxygen, and their adjacent carbon atoms were converted to sp(2) states, forming imine (C=N) and carbonyl (C=O) as the total electron dose increased. The sp(3) to sp(2) conversion mechanism was proposed. The epoxy resin was very sensitive to fast electrons and the original electronic states were maintained up to a total dose of similar to 10(3)e(-) nm(-2) at a low temperature of 103 K. Dose-dependent electron diffraction revealed that the intra- and intermolecular geometries changed below and around the total dose of similar to 10(3)e(-) nm(-2).

Automated summary

This study investigated the effects of electron irradiation on a common epoxy resin using dose-dependent electron energy loss spectroscopy. The results revealed that the chemical structure of the epoxy resin changed as the electron dose increased. The epoxy resin was found to be highly sensitive to fast electrons at low temperature.