Makrofol (KG and N) polycarbonates (PCs) are the most versatile solid-state nuclear track detectors. These polymers were exposed to gamma radiation of doses ranging from 250 to 1000 kGy. The pristine and exposed samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis spectrophotometry, and Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry for the structural, optical, and chemical studies, respectively. The XRD studies showed that crystallite size for exposed samples of makrofol-KG PC decreased from 64.7 to 57.9Å and for makrofol-N PC it increased from 19.1 to 21.1Å. The band gap energy decreased from 4.40 to 4.07 eV for makrofol-KG and from 4.26 to 3.83 eV for makrofol-N after the gamma exposure. The number of carbon atoms per conjugation length as obtained from UV-vis studies was increased in both cases. The activation energy showed fluctuations for exposed samples of both polymers. The intensity of various absorption bands of the infrared spectra decreased at some doses for both the PCs, indicating the change in the chemical properties of the exposed samples. C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Technol 2015, 34, 21510; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com.