THERMAL STUDIES ON UNIRRADIATED AND GAMMA-IRRADIATED POLYMER OF ALLYL DIGLYCOL CARBONATE

The thermal decomposition of unirradiated and gamma-irradiated (5.93-15.5 MRad dose range) allyl diglycol carbonate polymer (trade name, CR-39) was studied by thermogravimetry (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). These studies indicate four main decomposition steps in CR-39 polymer in air. Assessment of the influence of radiation dose on the above range shows that while the 5.93 MRad gamma-irradiated polymer CR-39 degrades in three steps, the 15.5 MRad gamma-irradiated polymer degrades in only two steps. The kinetics of the different stages of degradation were also evaluated from the TG curves. Irradiation enhances the decomposition rate and the effect increases further with increasing radiation dose. The activation energy values calculated for all the decomposition stages decrease on irradiation.