Styrylcyanine dye solutions for radiation dosimetry

The effect of -radiation on the electronic absorption spectra of the negatively solvatochromic dyestuff1, namely, 4-(4-N,N,-dimethylaminostyryl)-pyridinium methiodide in water and dimethylsulphoxide solvents is investigated. Ionizing radiation at different absorbed doses brought about gradual bleaching of aerated dye solutions. The -radiation-induced degradation and the consequent changes in the electronic absorption spectrum of dye 1 are discussed in the light of the theoretically calculated spectrum. The linear response range of dye1 in case of DMSO solution is wider than that in H₂O. The results demonstrate that the radiochromic dye solution offer dosimetry in the low dose range by means of visible spectrophotometric analysis.