Effect of gamma irradiation on the properties of plastic bottle sheet

In this article, the effects of gamma irradiation on the optical and structural properties of plastic bottle sheets have been studied. Bottle sheets were exposed with 1.25 MeV Co-60 gamma-ray's source at various dose levels within the range from 0 to 670 kGy. The changes so induced were analyzed by using UV-Vis and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. UV-Vis spectra show the peaks, their shifting and broadening as a result gamma irradiation. With increasing gamma-dose, the values of the direct and indirect band gap are found to be decreased. These results are in good agreement with the corresponding results published previously for polyethylene terephthalate polymer. We also calculated numbers of carbon atoms per conjugation length. The X-ray diffraction spectra exhibited an increase in peak intensity after gamma irradiation. Furthermore, the percentage crystallinity and crystallite size for pristine and irradiated sample have been calculated. It has been found that both crystallinity and crystallite size increase due to irradiation. In addition, interchain distances, micro strain, inter planar distance, dislocation density and distortion parameters were calculated. The analysis revealed there is the significant decrease in micro strain, dislocation density and distortion parameters with an increase of gamma dose, which is in line with the crystallinity calculation. Moreover, Interchain and Interplanar distances were marginally changed. These results demonstrated the applicability of sheets as a cost-effective dosimeter. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.