Functionalities for solid state nuclear track detection, 2017, Goa university a ternary copolymer of high alpha sensitivity for nuclear track detection

Monomers Pentaery thritol tetrakis (allyl carbonate) (PETAC), Allyldiglycol carbonate (ADC) and Allyldiglycolsulfonate (ADS) were synthesised and characterised using different spectroscopic techniques. A ternary copolymer of poly (PETAC-co-ADC-co-ADS) 4:3:3w/w/w having 634±10 μm thickness was prepared using isopropyl peroxydicarbonate (IPP) initiator. The film was cut into small pieces of 1×1cm² and exposed to ²⁵²Cf fission track source and ²³⁹Pu source at 1mm distance. On etching with 6N NaOH at 70ºC, alpha tracks were seen in 25-30 minutes and fission tracks in 10-15 minutes. The polymer prepared using initiator concentration of 5% by weight was found to have maximum alpha sensitivity. The track detector has the highest alpha sensitivity of 2.44 in 3 hrs as compared to 1.28 of the commercially available CR-39TM film. The higher sensitivity may be attributed to the presence of higher 3-D network and the sensitive sulfonate group in the polymer matrix