Polyethersulfone with active carboxylic acid pendants was prepared from solution polymerization via nucleophilic displacement polycondensation reaction among 4,4′-dichlorodiphenyl sulfone (DCDPS) and 4,4′-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl) valeric acid (BHPA). The conditions necessary to synthesize and purify the polymer were investigated in some details. The synthesized polyethersulfone comprises sulfone and ether linkages in addition to reactive carboxylic acid functionality; this reactive carboxylic acid group was exploited to hold the HEPES moiety via ester linkage and is achieved by simple DCC coupling condition at ambient temperature. Without impairing the primary polymeric backbone, three modified polymers were prepared by varying the stoichiometric ratio of HEPES. Characterization of the polymers by 1H & 13C NMR, FT-IR, and TGA demonstrated that HEPES was quantitatively incorporated into the prime polymer. All the prepared polymers were pressed into tablets, and electrical contacts were established to study the dielectric properties. Finally, the influence of the HEPES on the dielectric properties was examined.

The effect of an 8 MeV electron-beam on the structural, optical and dielectric properties of polystyrene films has been investigated respectively by means of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) spectroscopy and electrical impedance (LCR) analysis over a radiation dose in the range of 50-250 kGy using a Microtron accelerator. The FTIR spectral analysis shows no change in the overall structure of the irradiated polystyrene films, except a minor change in the intensity of a few peaks in the FTIR spectrum, indicating that polystyrene is resistant to electron-beam irradiation over the range of radiation doses investigated. The optical band gap analysis using the UV-VIS absorption spectra of the polystyrene shows a small decrease in the optical band gap (E g ) and the activation energy with an increase in electron doses. Further, the dielectric measurements over a frequency range of 100 Hz to 1 MHz for the electron-beam-irradiated polystyrene films show that both the dielectric constant and the dielectric loss increase with an increase in electron radiation dose, which may be ascribed to the formation of defect sites in the band gap of polystyrene as a consequence of molecular chain scission in the polymer films upon irradiation.

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