Polymer modifications due to absorption of different ionizating radiations

In the last years, an useful collaboration developed between the material engineers and the physicians of Messina University. The study of the intimate structure of a material, before and after its modification induced by an external ionizing radiation source (electrons, ions, gamma) requires the simultaneous presence of specialist in Chemistry, Physics and Engineering in order to define the best modification conditions and the consequent featuresof the new synthesized material. In particular the polyethylene, employed in different fields, such as microelectronics and biomedicine, was chosen as an important target to modify its properties through ions and electron beam irradiations. Ion beams, ith energy of the order of some hundred keV and doses of the order of 1014/cm2, are able to improve the polyethylene surface properties without change the pristine bulk. Instead, electron beams with energy of about 5 MeV and high dose, improve significantly bulk properties of the polymer. The effects of the ion and electron modifications were investigated with several physics characterization methods, as will be discussed in the following.