Structural and Optical Changes of Poly-Vinylidene Fluoride by Electron Irradiation at High Dose Rate

Abstract

Poly-vinylidene fluoride (PVDF) films were prepared and irradiated by 10MeV electrons at different doses ranging from 50 to 300kGy with a dose rate of 10kGy/s. The FTIR results indicated that no major phase content change was observed. The optical absorption spectra indicated that the electron irradiation results in shifting of the absorption peak, appearance of a new peak and increasing the band gap (Eg). These changes may be due to the breaking of polymer chains and creation of new defects. The X-ray diffraction analysis of samples indicated that the crystallinity did not show any major changes. Concerning the gel fraction measurements, it was observed that gel fraction increases with increasing the dose, where it is an indication of the formation of cross-linked films.

Keywords

• polyvinylidene fluoride
• electron irradiation
• cross-linking