Effects of gamma ray and neutron radiation on polyanilne conducting polymer

Abstract

Ionizing radiation effects such as neutron and gamma on conducting polyanilne have been studied for various doses varied from 6 to 504Gy and 15 to 41.9 kGy, respectively. Spectroscopic methods such as UV-Vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and <i style="">I-V</i> measurements have been used to characterize the pristine and irradiated polyanilne samples. UV-visible spectroscopy shows a shift in the absorption edge towards visible region after irradiation, which can be correlated to the transition involved in these polymers and variation in the band gaps (<i style="">E</i>_g) using Tauc’s expression which indicate a decrease in band gap. XRD spectra revealed that crystallinity and particle size improve after irradiation, which could be attributed to cross-linking mechanism. The current voltage (<i style="">I-V</i>) characteristics have been carried out at room temperature using four probe set up and it has been found that polyaniline films show ohmic behaviour before and after irradiation. Moreover, conductivity improves after irradiation, which is due to enhancement in carrier concentration.<b> </b>Conducting polymers as a radiation sensor for gamma and neutron as well as for dosimetry aspects have been studied.