Study of microhardness and electrical properties of proton irradiated polyethersulfone (PES)

[摘要] Polyethersulfone (PES) films were irradiated with 3 MeV proton beams in the fluence range 10¹³â€�??10¹⁵ ions/cm². The radiation induced changes in microhardness was investigated by a Vickers’ microhardness tester in the load range 100â€�??1000 mN and electrical properties in the frequency range 100 Hzâ€�??1 MHz by an LCR meter. It is observed that microhardness of the film increases significantly as fluence increases up to 10¹⁴ ions/cm². The bulk hardness of the films is obtained at a load of 400 mN. The increase in hardness may be attributed to the cross linking effect. 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 significantly due to irradiation. It has been found that dielectric response in both pristine and irradiated samples obey the Universal law and is given by ðœ�? ∝ ð‘�??^nâ€�??1. These results were corroborated with structural changes observed in FTIR spectra of irradiated samples.

[学科分类] 材料工程

[关键词] Polyethersulfone;microhardness;conductivity;dielectric response;FTIR.