Effects of pre-soaking on characteristics of lexan polycarbonate

Electrochemical etching (ECE) of lexan polycarbonate, previously exposed to alpha particles, with potassium hydroxide/ethanol/water (PEW) after swelling by methanol lead to the increased diameter of alpha-tracks and extended the range of the alpha particle energies registered. Comparison was also made with polycarbonate ECE etched with PEW but pre-soaked in ethanol. However, the former proved to be the superior method. X-ray diffraction of 500 μm thick lexan foils before and after swelling by methanol showed that methanol reduced the two-dimensional order in which the polymer chains are normally parallel and well packed.