Accession Number:
AD0296386
Title:
THE EFFECTS OF ALPHA PARTICLES ON LOW DENSITY POLYETHYLENE
Descriptive Note:
Corporate Author:
ARMY BALLISTIC RESEARCH LAB ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND MD
Personal Author(s):
Report Date:
1962-11-01
Pagination or Media Count:
34.0
Abstract:
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.
Descriptors:
Subject Categories:
- Atomic and Molecular Physics and Spectroscopy