title: Stability of Grafted Polymer Nanoscale Films toward Gamma Irradiation.
abstract: The present article focuses on the influence of gamma irradiation on nanoscale polymer grafted films and explores avenues for improvements in their stability toward the ionizing radiation. In terms of applications, we concentrate on enrichment polymer layers (EPLs), which are polymer thin films employed in sensor devices for the detection of chemical and biological substances. Specifically, we have studied the influence of gamma irradiation on nanoscale poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) grafted EPL films. First, it was determined that a significant level of cross-linking was caused by irradiation in pure PGMA films. The cross-linking is accompanied by the formation of conjugated ester, carbon double bonds, hydroxyl groups, ketone carbonyls, and the elimination of epoxy groups as determined by FTIR. Polystyrene, 4-amino-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl, dimethylphenylsilanol, BaF2, and gold nanoparticles were incorporated into the films and were found to mitigate different aspects of the radiation damage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET), Clemson University , Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States.
authors.forename: Nikolay
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Borodinov
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET), Clemson University , Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Giammarco
authors.affiliation: Microphotonics Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Microphotonics Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
authors.forename: Anuradha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET), Clemson University , Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States.
authors.forename: Katie R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET), Clemson University , Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States.
authors.forename: Courtney J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Kucera
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET), Clemson University , Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States.
authors.forename: Luiz G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Jacobsohn
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET), Clemson University , Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Luzinov
keywords: enrichment polymer layers; gamma irradiation; grafted polymer films; nanoscale polymer films; radiation stability