The effects of alpha particles on low density polyethylene

Author / Creator

Swisher, Joe A

Available as

Online

Summary

Polyethylene samples were exposed to two different size polonium-210 alpha sources for increasing durations of time. The resulting chemical changes were studied as a function of absorbed energy by ...

Polyethylene samples were exposed to two different size polonium-210 alpha sources for increasing durations of time. The resulting chemical changes were studied as a function of absorbed energy by means of infrared spectroscopy. The radiation induced chemical changes observed in the infrared spectra of the polymer resulted in an increase in absorption at the characteristic frequencies of the new chemical bonds. Two methods were used to correlate the analytical data with the alpha particle exposure. One method involves the characteristic infrared band frequencies and the other, a unique approach, the correlation of the integrated areas of the infrared spectra. The results indicate the potentiality of polyethylene as a detector for alpha particles and a calibration tool for polonium alpha sources in the range of one millicurie to one curie.

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