Background: The effect of irradiation degradation of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) was studied in recent years. Most of irradiation source is 60Co. Purpose: The effect of electron beam irradiation on the degradation of PTFE in different atmosphere and dose rate was investigated in this study. Methods: The irradiated PTFE samples were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)

electron spin resonance (ESR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results: It is found that the PTFE samples were degraded by electron beam effectively. Conclusion: The radiation decomposition of the sample is mainly the rupture of C-C bond. The samples irradiated in low dose rate are better effective than the samples in high dose rate in the same absorbed dose and gas atmosphere

and the samples’ degradation in air is superior to the samples in N2 when they are in the same absorbed dose and radiation dose rate. Abstract