Optical and chemical behaviors of CR-39 and Makrofol plastics under low-energy electron beam irradiation

Abstract

In this study, CR-39 and Makrofol plastic nuclear track detectors were irradiated with low-energy electron beams to study the effect of the induced changes on their optical and chemical properties. Surface chemical changes were recorded by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, which showed successive degradation and crosslinking for CR-39 and decomposition for Makrofol. The optical band gap was determined by UVvis spectroscopy. Also, the parameters of carbon cluster formation and disordering (Urbach's energy) occurring on plastic surfaces were examined. The intrinsic viscosity changes were investigated as well. As a result, low-energy electron beams were found to be useful for the control of many properties of the surfaces of the investigated detectors.