Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Non Crystalline Materials

The optical and chemical response of poly vinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer has been studied after one year of irradiation to avoid the short-lived activity and reactivity of the irradiated polymer with oxidation and reduction mechanism, the polymer samples were irradiated with 50 MeV lithium ion beam in the fluence range of 1.27×1011-2.15×1013 ions/cm². The post irradiation effect has been analysed using UV-visible and FTIR spectroscopic techniques. The results of UV-visible spectroscopic study shows a decrease in the optical absorption and a shift in absorption edge towards higher wavelength with increasing fluence indication a decrease in band gap. The FTIR analysis shows a dramatic increase in absorbance in the wavelength regions from 3600–2800 cm-1 which may be ascribed to the oxidative degradation of the polymer and the increase in the absorption in the range of 2000–1500 cm-1 indicating about the possibility of double bond formation.