Study of modifications in Lexan polycarbonate induced by swift O6+ ion irradiation

Swift Heavy Ion (SHI) irradiation of the polymeric materials modifies their physico-chemical properties. Lexan polycarbonate films were irradiated with 95 MeV oxygen ions to the fluences of 1010, 1011, 1012, 1013 and 2 × 1013 ions/cm2. Characterization of optical, chemical, electrical and structural modifications were carried out by UV-Vis spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, Dielectric measurements and X-ray Diffraction. A shift in the optical absorption edge towards the red end of the spectrum was observed with the increase in ion fluence. The optical band gap (Eg), calculated from the absorption edge of the UV-Vis spectra of these films in 200-800 nm region varied from 4.12 eV to 2.34 eV for virgin and irradiated samples. The cluster size varied in a range of 69-215 carbon atoms per cluster. In FTIR spectra, appreciable modification in terms of breaking of the cleavaged C-O bond of carbonate and formation of phenolic O-H bond was observed on irradiation. A rapidly decreasing trend in dielectric constant is observed at lower frequencies. The dielectric constant increases with fluence. It is observed that the loss factor increases moderately with fluence and it may be due to scissoring of polymer chains, resulting in an increase in free radicals. A sharp increase in A.C. conductivity in pristine as well as in irradiated samples is observed with frequency and is attributed to scissoring of polymer chains. XRD analyses show significant change in crystallinity with fluence. A decrease of ∼9.02% in crystallite size of irradiated sample at the fluence of 2 × 1013 ions/cm2 is observed.