Polypropylene track membranes as a promising material for targets with polarized protons

Polypropylene track membranes made by irradiation of polypropylene films with a beam of high-energy heavy ions followed by chemical etching of latent ion tracks are proposed for being used as a polarized target material. To give membranes paramagnetic properties needed for allowing dynamic polarization of nuclei, the nitroxyl radical 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl was introduced in the samples by the thermal diffusion technique. Using the electron paramagnetic resonance method, we obtained information on paramagnetic centers in the polymer matrix of the membranes and determined the nitroxyl radical concentration and rotational mobility of the spin probe in them.