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Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Monitoring the Effects of Illumination on the Structure of Conjugated Polymer Gels Using Neutron Scattering
Published on: December 21, 2017
Effect of low doses of 14 MeV neutrons on polymers
Agnès Rivaton1, Jack Arnold, Morgane Dos Santos
1Clermont Université, Université Blaise Pascal, LPMM, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France. rivaton@univ-bpclermont.fr
Abstract:
The structural modifications of polymers irradiated with 14 MeV neutrons were studied. Two elastomers, a polypropylene-type polymer and poly(ethylene oxide) were exposed to low doses of fast neutrons in the range of 0.3-14 Gy. The radiation damages were observed at the molecular scale by infrared spectroscopy. The morphological changes were investigated by steric exclusion chromatography, insoluble fraction measurements, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction. It was found that neutrons provoked oxidation processes accompanied by modifications in the polymer architecture, including chain scissions, crosslinking reactions and changes in the crystallinity. Moreover, the conventional antioxidants were shown to be inefficient in inhibiting the aging of the polymers. These results also suggest that the radiation damages could be used successfully for dosimetry applications using an easily implementable protocol.
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