Modifications of polycarbonate induced by swift heavy ions

The effects of 80 MeV O6+ ions irradiation on polycarbonate (makrofol-DE) have been studied by different characterization techniques, viz. Fourier transform IR spectroscopy, Vickers’ microhardness tester, LCR meter, thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. It is observed that the hardness of the film increases as fluence increases. This may be attributed to the cross-linking effects as corroborated with FTIR spectra. There is an exponential increase in conductivity with log frequency and the effect of irradiation is significant at higher fluences. The dielectric constant/loss is observed to change with the fluence. From the analysis of frequency dependence of dielectric constant it has been observed that the dielectric response in both pristine and irradiated samples obey Jonscherʹs power law. The results are also explained on the basis of structural modification of polymer due to heavy ion irradiation. TGA/DSC thermograms indicate that there is no significant change in the stability of polymer and glass transition temperature up to the fluence of 2.4 × 1013 ions/cm2.