Research Article Open Access

Dose Response and Optical Properties of Dyed Poly Vinyl Alcohol-Trichloroacetic Acid Polymeric Blends Irradiated with Gamma-Rays

Susilawati and Aris Doyan

Abstract

Problem statement: The effects of gamma irradiation on optical properties of cresol-red dyed Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) blended with Trichloroacetic Acid (TCA) for possible use in dosimetry and measurement of radiation dose in gamma rays have been studied using both Raman spectroscopy and UV-Visible spectrophotometer method. Approach: The dosimeters are composed of Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA), Trichloroacetic Acid (TCA) at various concentrations are 20, 25, 30 and 35%, and acid-base indicator cresol-red dyed. Results: The dosimeters were irradiated to doses up 12 kGy using 60Co gamma ray source at a constant dose rate. The polymeric films undergo color change from purple to yellow due to radiation-induced acid formation. The molecular vibrational spectra were measured using Raman spectroscopy, resulting in a decrease of the Raman intensity inelastic scattering of C-Cl molecular stretching from TCA with increasing dose. The absorption spectra were measured using UV-visible spectrophotometer in the wavelength range 350-700 nm, resulting in a decrease of the absorbance at 575 nm band peak with increasing dose. The dose sensitivity D0 increases with increasing TCA concentration for both scattering and absorption methods. The optical absorption studies show that the direct and indirect optical energy band gaps and optical activation energies are dependent on dose and TCA concentration. Conclusion: The shift in the optical band gap Eg values towards lower energy with radiation dose leads to a shift of the optical activation energy DeltaE value towards the lower energy region with increasing dose. The optical band gap (Eg) and the absorption edge decrease with increasing dose attributed to the structural disorder of polymer blends due to dehydrochlorination of trichloroacetic acid with increasing dose. The energy width of the tail of localized state in the forbidden band gap was evaluated using the Urbach-edges method. It was found that the activation energy (DeltaE) is less dependent of radiation dose but strongly dependent on concentration of blends.

American Journal of Applied Sciences
Volume 6 No. 12, 2009, 2071-2077

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3844/ajassp.2009.2071.2077

Submitted On: 29 August 2009 Published On: 31 December 2009

How to Cite: Susilawati, & Doyan, A. (2009). Dose Response and Optical Properties of Dyed Poly Vinyl Alcohol-Trichloroacetic Acid Polymeric Blends Irradiated with Gamma-Rays. American Journal of Applied Sciences, 6(12), 2071-2077. https://doi.org/10.3844/ajassp.2009.2071.2077

  • 3,448 Views
  • 3,277 Downloads
  • 39 Citations

Download

Keywords

  • Dose-response
  • optical properties
  • polymer blends
  • absorption spectra
  • optical band gap
  • activation energy