The Effect of O6+ and Si7+ ion beam irradiations on poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (50: 50) copolymer

Sterilization by ion beam radiations unfortunately also has a significant effect on the degradation of many polymers. The aim of present study is to examine the effect of heavy ion beam irradiation on poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) (50: 50). The radiation effect is manifested through its degradation behavior and changes in the morphological, optical and structural properties. PLGA films are prepared by solvent casting method and subsequently irradiated with swift heavy ions O⁶⁺ and Si⁷⁺ ion with fluence in the range of 5 × 10¹⁰?1 × 10¹² ions/cm². The dominant effect on PLGA films is chain scission as evidenced by change in surface modification. Changes in optical and structural properties were analyzed by UV-Vis, XRD and FTIR spectrometric techniques. XRD technique is not responsive to degradation occurring in samples. Surface modifications caused by ion irradiations have been observed with SEM.