Electron beam and gamma ray irradiated polymer electrolyte films: Dielectric properties

In this study, polymer electrolyte films were irradiated with electron beam (EB) and Gamma ray (GR) at 50 and 150 kGy. The induced chemical changes in films due to irradiations have been confirmed from the Fourier Transform Infra red (FT-IR) spectra. The X-ray Diffractometry (XRD) results show that crystallinity decreases by ∼20% in EB and ∼10% in GR irradiated films respectively compared to non-irradiated film. The micro structural arrangement was investigated by Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM) and the images reveal that there is a substantial improvement in the surface morphology in irradiated films. The real (ε′) and imaginary (ε″) dielectric constant and AC conductivity are found to increase with increase in irradiation dose. Improved dielectric properties and conductivity (1.74 x 10−4 & 1.15 x 10−4 S/cm, respectively, for EB and GR irradiated films at room temperature) after irradiation and it confirm that EB and GR irradiation can be simple and effective route to obtaining highly conductive polymer electrolytes. From this study it is confirm that EB is more effectiveness than GR irradiation.