Optik 125 (2014) 24422449

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Optik
j our nal homepage: www. el sevi er . de/ i j l eo
Effect of UV radiation on the optical and some structural properties of
irregular rayon acetate bers
I.M. Fouda, E.A. Seisa

, F.M. Eid
Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 26 May 2013
Accepted 24 October 2013
Keywords:
Interferometry
Rayon acetate bers
UV radiation
Stress optical coefcient
Dielectric properties
a b s t r a c t
This recent study shed demonstration on how the structural parameters changes due exposure to UV
radiation and different wavelengths. So this article throws light on the changes of the optical properties
and some structural properties due exposure to UV radiation and different wavelengths on irregular
rayon acetate bers. Pluta polarizing interference microscope is used to study the changes for refractive
indices and birefringence with different exposure times at three different intensities on irregular rayon
acetate bers. As the principal optical parameters determined, these give an indication of the isotropic
refractive index, stress optical coefcient, stress due to UV radiation, optical conguration parameter,
segment anisotropy, the number of molecules per unit volume and polarizability of a monomer unit can
be obtained. Also by using different wavelengths are given the spectral dispersions, Cauchys dispersion
constants, the resonant wavelength, the oscillation energy, the dispersion energy, the dielectric constant
and the dielectric susceptibility for rayon acetate bers with different wavelengths at room temperatures.
Illustrations are given using graphs and microinterferograms.
2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Rayon was one of the rst man-made bers; these bers are
a diverse group consisting of regenerated cellulose derived from
wood pulp. Rayon acetate bers consist of acetate which is chem-
ically stable [1]. Natural, synthetic and man made bers plays an
important role in the electrical and textile industries where most
bers are nowmixed.
Several authors have studied the effect of UV radiation on the
physical and chemical properties of polymers in the formof bers,
lms, and solutions [24]. They report that the mechanical proper-
ties of irradiated bers deteriorate with increasing exposure times.
The UV radiation from the sun is capable of exciting electrons to
higher energy orbital levels.
Obviously, excitation will occur if the material concern is capa-
ble of absorbing radiant energy and this in turn depends on the
nature of the bonds and groups within the polymer. Deteriorations
in polymers are often caused by the joint effect of radiation from
the sun together with oxygen [5].
Light and penetrating radiations are important physical inu-
enceonpolymers, whicharecapableof inducingchemical reactions

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: seisa@mans.edu.eg (E.A. Seisa).
in them. At short wavelengths (230410nm), the light quanta may
detachfragments from, molecules or break upthe macromolecules.
Such changes are usually produced by light radiation with these
wavelengths. Thus, light can alter the physical and mechanical
properties of the polymers. In the storage and service of poly-
meric articles, the action of light, heat, oxygen, and so may cause
crosslinking of the macromolecules. This also detracts from the
properties of a polymer by inducing brittleness, rigidity, and the
ability to crystallize sharply [6].
Oriented polymers are produced industrially by extrusion of
initially nonoriented bers or lms. The molecular mechanism
responsible for the variation in the optical properties is claried
by observation of the birefringence. Birefringence depends on the
molecular orientation in polymeric bers because it contains a
contribution from the polarizabilities of all molecular units in the
samples [7]. It is a measure of the total molecular orientation of a
system and is an excellent property to use for the study of poly-
crystalline polymers.
Varies techniques have been established to estimate the molec-
ular orientations in polymer solids, including X-ray diffraction
[8,9], sonic velocity measurements [10], NMR Raman spectroscopy
[11], UVvisible [12], IR absorption dichroism [13] and birefrin-
gence [14]. The uses of interferometric methods are of considerable
importance andthey have beenusedinour laboratory several stud-
ies [15,16].
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijleo.2013.10.128
0030-4026/ 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
I.M. Fouda et al. / Optik 125 (2014) 24422449 2443
The present article focuses attention on the effect of the expo-
sure to UV radiation and different wavelengths for rayon acetate
bers, tocalculate the optical parameters anddensity for determin-
ing essential industrial parameters. The stress optical coefcient,
dielectric constant and susceptibility are calculated with other
structural parameters. Measurements are carried out at three dif-
ferent intensities (15, 30 and 45W/cm
2
) for different periods
rangedfrom15to120min. Alsohas beenstudiedinthe wavelength
range 546599nm.
2. Theoretical considerations
The two beam interference technique by Pluta polarizing
microscope [17,18] was used for determination the basic optical
parameters of rayon acetate bers. The experimental values of
the refractive indices and birefringence were used to calculate the
polarizability of monomer unit and other parameters by suitable
equations given elsewhere [1921].
2.1. Mean polarizability of monomer unit
As the refractive index of a polymer depends on the total polar-
izability of the molecules, the polarizability of the dielectric
||
is
given by [22]:
n
2
||
1
n
2
||
+2
=
v
||
3j
(1)
with analogous formula used for n

. Where n
||
, n

are the mean

refractive indices for light vibrating along and across the axiss of
the ber, v is the number of chains per unit volume (v = N
/
]M), N
A
is Avogadro

s number, is the polymer density, Mis the monomer

molecular units (molecular weight =288) for rayon acetate bers
[1], and 4 is the permittivity of free space (8.8510
12
Fm
1
).
2.2. Stress optical coefcient
The value of the stress optical coefcient C
s
is depends on the
chemical structure of the polymer. Also, the value of this coef-
cient depends solely on the mean refractive index and the optical
anisotropy of the random link, as seen in the following equation
[22]:
C
s
=
2
45K1

(

n
2
+2)
2
n

[
||

] (2)
where n is the mean refractive index, k is the Boltzmann constant
and T is the absolute temperature.
2.3. The segment anisotropy
The segment anisotropy
s
is related to the stress optical coef-
cient and given by the following equation [22]:
C
s
=

s
90jK1
[

n
2
+2]
2
n
(3)
So, we can determine
s
.
2.4. Determination due to UV stress
A transformation of initially crystalline and amorphous bers
by UV radiation treatment to introduce structural changes is also
known, as polymer chains align in the direction of an applied UV
stress duetothemobilityof themolecules. Theaveragechainorien-
tationof boththe amorphous andcrystalline regions inthe network
was measured by birefringence (^n) in the present work, so we
can obtain the deformation due to UV stress o from the following
equation
C
s
=
^n
o
(4)
2.5. Optical conguration parameter
The optical conguration parameter (^) is related to the C
s
by
the following equation [23]:
z =

45K1C
s
]2
(

n
2
+2)
2

n (5)
where ^ =
||

The total number of molecules per unit volume J is determined

fromthe birefringence ^n and the difference in the polarizabilities
of the macromolecules as follows [4]:
j =
n^n
2

( n)
2
+2
3

2
(p
11
p

)
1
(6)
where p
||
and p

are the polarizabilities per unit volume.

2.6. Density and degree of crystallinity
The isotropic refractive index n
iso
given by [24]:
n
iso
= (n
2
n
||
)
1]3
(7)
The density is expressed in terms of n
iso
as obtained De Vries
fromthe following equation [19]:
n
2
isc
1
n
2
isc
+2
= (8)
where is a constant found to be 0.218cm
3
/gm for rayon acetate
bers andthe degree of crystallinityywas determinedbyfollowing
the relation [25]:
y =
(
u
)
(
c

u
)
(9)
where
c
and
a
are the densities of the crystalline and non-
crystalline regions (
c
=1.35gm/cm
3
and
a
=1.25gm/cm
3
for
rayon acetate ber), is the experimental measured value of den-
sity.
2.7. The mean square density uctuation
For two phase structure consisting of amorphous andcrystalline
regions with densities
a
and
c
. The mean square density uctua-
tion

q
2

can be calculated fromthe following equation [26]:

q
2

= [
c

u
]
2
y[1 y] (10)
2.8. The spectral dispersion curves of bers
For studying one of the most important characteristics for rayon
acetate ber, optical and dielectric dispersion, we use the main
values of refractive indices at different values of wavelength z in
Cauchy equation [27]:
n
z
= / +
8
z
2
+
C
z
4
+ (11)
where A, B and C are known as Cauchy coefcients which charac-
terizing the ber materials. However, in the transparency region of
2444 I.M. Fouda et al. / Optik 125 (2014) 24422449
the ber, the coefcient C is very small and it can be neglected. The
coefcients have the following physical signicance [27]
/ = 1 +
Nc
2
z
c
2
8
2
jmc
2
(12)
and
8 =
Nc
2
z
4
c
8
2
jmc
2
(13)
whereNis thenumbers of electronper unitevolume, e is thecharge,
m is the mass of electron, c is the velocity of light and z
o
is the
resonant wavelength. FromEqs. (12) and (13) one can write:
z
2
c
=
8
/ 1
(14)
Applying Maxwells equation D
||
=n
||2
(at optical frequencies)
[28], where D
||
is the dielectric constant. The dielectric susceptibil-
ity (
||
) is related to D
||
value by the following relation:
D
||
= 1 +4
||
(15)
with an analogous formula in perpendicular direction.
2.9. Oscillation and dispersion energies
The dispersion energy and oscillation energy are given the fol-
lowing equation [29,30]:
(n
2
1)
1
=

c

c
(16)
where E is the photon energy, n is the refractive index of the mate-
rial, E
o
is the oscillation energy and E
d
is the dispersion energy. The
dispersion energy is called the electronic oscillator strength, which
is a measure of the strength of the inter band optical transition.
It is related to the charge distribution within each unit cell and to
chemical bonding. It plays an important role in determining the
behavior of refractive indices and properly normalizes the inter-
action potential describing this optical effect [30]. Eq. (16) can be
used for light vibrating parallel or perpendicular to the bers axis.
3. Experimental procedure and results
3.1. Chemical constitution of rayon acetate
The long-chain molecule which forms the basis of cellulose
acetate ber was cellulose, the abundant natural polymer. It is the
same basis as usedfor viscose andcuprammoniumbers, but inthe
case of cellulose triacetate most of the hydroxyl groups have been
acetylated. Cellulose triacetate has the following unit constitution:
The formula of cellulose is (C
6
H
10
O
5
)
n
which corresponds to
a (unit) molecular weight of 162, and that of cellulose triacetate
is C
6
H
7
O
2
(OCOCH
3
)
3
, which corresponds to a (unit) molecular
weight 288 [1].
Fig. 1. Cross-sectional area of irregular rayon acetate ber.
3.2. Sample preparation
The irradiation of the rayon acetate bers was carried out using
a UV radiation source containing three generated UV lamps from
General Electric Co., model G15T8, 436mmlength, 25.5mmdiame-
ter, 15Wradiation powers and 254nmcharacteristic wavelengths
for 10,000average useful life. The distance betweenthe light source
and samples was (10cm). Each sample was exposed UV radiation
for different period ranged from15 to 120min. The samples were
xed on glass rods and put in front of the source. The samples were
stored in a cool place before irradiation. The structure changes in
the rayon acetate bers induced by UV radiation, and their corre-
lation to the optical properties and density has been investigated
using a double-beampolarizing interference microscope. Also the
Pluta interference microscope was used to investigate the changes
of the optical and structural properties at different wavelengths
at constant temperature. The output eld of the microscope was
scanned by CCD camera and the interference image was auto-
matically captured and processed. The fringe analysis was used to
determine the cross-sectional area, the mean refractive indices and
mean birefringence of the tested bers.
3.3. Measurements of transverse sectional area for rayon acetate
bers
The measurements of transverse sectional area for the rayon
acetate bers showed that the cross section of these bers seen by
high power optical microscopy is irregular in the general shape of
this ber; so as to give the cross section a clover leaf composition
mean cross section is found to be 439m
2
. Fig. 1 shows the cross
sectional area of irregular rayon acetate bers before irradiated.
3.4. Application of two-beaminterferometry
Pluta polarizing interference microscope was used to study the
effect of UV radiation on optical properties of rayon acetate bers.
The obtained ber images (microinterferogram) were captured
using a charged coupling device (CCD) camera to determine the
principle optical parameters of irregular rayon acetate bers, at
three different intensities of UV radiation (15, 30 and 45W/cm
2
)
for different exposure times ranged from15 to 120min.
Fig. 2(ah) shows an example of the obtained microinterfer-
ograms of two-beam interferometry from the total duplicated
images of rayonacetatebers immersedinliquidof refractiveindex
1.4710.0002 at 25

C was exposed to 30W/cm

2
radiation for dif-
ferent exposure times using monochromatic light of wavelength
546.1nm.
I.M. Fouda et al. / Optik 125 (2014) 24422449 2445
Fig. 2. (ah) Microinterferograms of the totally duplicated images of rayon acetate
ber immersedinliquids of refractive indices 1.471was exposedto 30W/cm
2
radia-
tion using monochromatic light of wavelength 546.1nmfor different periods times;
(a) 0, (b) 15, (c) 30, (d) 45, (e) 60, (f) 75, (g) 90, and (h) 105min.
Fig. 3. (a) The relation between the mean refractive index n
||
with exposure times
for rayon acetate bers at different intensity. (b) The relation between the mean
refractiveindexn

withexposuretimes for rayonacetatebers at different intensity.

(c) The relation between the mean birefringence ^n with exposure times for rayon
acetate. bers at different intensity.
Fig. 3(ac) shows the variation of mean refractive indices (n
||
,
n

) and means birefringence (^n) with exposure times for rayon

acetate bers at different intensities 15, 30 and 45W/cm
2
. It was
observed that, the effect of UVdegradationonthe refractive indices
values for the perpendicular directions n

more decreases than n

||
,
sothe meanbirefringence gives anincrease withdifferent exposure
times for rayon acetate bers. For given exposure times the values
of both the refractive indices and mean birefringence changes with
increasing the changes in intensities values.
The relation between the degree of crystallinity ywith different
exposure times for rayon acetate bers at different intensities as
shown in Fig. 4. It is clear that, crystallinity decreases with increas-
ing the exposure time, this behavior in the present result showthat
deformation was accompanied by a reduction of crystalline phase.
2446 I.M. Fouda et al. / Optik 125 (2014) 24422449
Table 1a
The isotropic refractive index n
iso
, density , the mean square density uctuation

q
2

, the polarizabilities along and across the axis (

||
,

), optical conguration parameter

^, and thermal stress o was exposed to 15W/cm
2
radiation for different exposure times.
Time (mint.) n
iso
g/cm
3

q
2

10
5

||
10
36

10
36
^10
39
o 10
14
Pa
0 1.4661 1.274 182 2.495 2.478 2.07 5.415
15 1.4657 1.273 178 2.495 2.478 2.09 5.411
30 1.4655 1.273 175 2.495 2.478 2.14 5.409
45 1.4652 1.272 172 2.496 2.477 2.14 5.407
60 1.4649 1.271 168 2.496 2.477 2.16 5.404
75 1.4646 1.271 164 2.496 2.477 2.19 5.401
90 1.4642 1.270 158 2.496 2.477 2.23 5.397
105 1.4640 1.269 155 2.496 2.477 2.25 5.395
120 1.4636 1.268 150 2.497 2.476 2.25 5.392
Table 1b
The isotropic refractive index n
iso
, density , the mean square density uctuation

q
2

, the polarizabilities along and across the axis (

||
,

), optical conguration parameter

^, and thermal stress o was exposed to 30W/cm
2
radiation for different exposure times.
Time (mint.) n
iso
g/cm
3

q
2

10
5

||
10
36

10
36
^10
39
o 10
14
Pa
0 1.4661 1.274 182 2.495 2.478 2.07 5.415
15 1.4656 1.273 176 2.495 2.478 2.12 5.410
30 1.4653 1.272 172 2.495 2.478 2.14 5.407
45 1.4648 1.271 166 2.495 2.478 2.16 5.403
60 1.4645 1.270 161 2.495 2.478 2.17 5.399
75 1.4640 1.269 155 2.496 2.477 2.21 5.395
90 1.4637 1.268 150 2.496 2.477 2.23 5.392
105 1.4631 1.267 141 2.496 2.477 2.33 5.368
120 1.4626 1.266 134 2.496 2.477 2.33 5.381
Table 1c
The isotropic refractive index n
iso
, density , the mean square density uctuation

q
2

, the polarizabilities along and across the axis (

||
,

), optical conguration parameter

^, and thermal stress o was exposed to 45W/cm
2
radiation for different exposure times.
Time (mint.) n
iso
g/cm
3

q
2

10
5

||
10
36

10
36
^10
39
o 10
14
Pa
0 1.4661 1.274 182 2.495 2.478 2.07 5.415
15 1.4654 1.273 173 2.495 2.478 2.09 5.411
30 1.4648 1.273 165 2.495 2.478 2.14 5.409
45 1.4642 1.272 157 2.496 2.477 2.14 5.407
60 1.4637 1.271 149 2.496 2.477 2.16 5.404
75 1.4630 1.271 139 2.496 2.477 2.19 5.401
90 1.4624 1.270 130 2.496 2.477 2.23 5.397
105 1.4618 1.269 120 2.496 2.477 2.25 5.395
120 1.4612 1.268 110 2.497 2.476 2.25 5.392
Also the isotropic refractive index n
iso
, density and the mean
square density uctuation

q
2

were given in Tables 1(ac). The

dielectric polarizabilities along and across the axis, where
||
and
the optical conguration parameter ^ they slightly increase with
increasing exposure times, but

and UV stress o decrease at

different exposure times for rayon acetate bers at different inten-
sities 15, 30 and 45W/cm
2
were given in Tables 1(ac). The total
number of molecules per unit volumeJ is constant (1.00) at different
exposure times.
In Figs. 5 and 6 shows the relation between the stress opti-
cal stress coefcient C
s
and the segment anisotropy
s
and with
different exposure times for rayon acetate bers at different
intensities. The C
s
and
s
increases with increasing exposure
times
.
3.5. Determination of the spectral dispersions and structural
properties of rayon acetate bers
The refractive index of the bers material depends onthe wave-
length of monochromatic light used. The relationship between
refractive indices n
||
, n

and 1/z
2
for rayon acetate bers can be
given according to Eq. (11) as shown in Fig. 7(a and b). The gures
indicate that, the refractive indices n
||
and n

increase linearly by
increasing 1/z
2
. The Cauchys dispersion constants (A and B) and
the numerical value of resonant wavelength (z
o
) that character-
izes the dispersion activity of the material were given according to
Eqs. (12)(14), respectively. The results were tabulated in Table 2.
The obtained data conrms the applicability of Cauchy

s dis-
persion Eq. (11) for the refractive index of rayon acetate bers in
Table 2
Values of Cauchys dispersion constants and resonant wavelength for rayon acetate bers at T =19

C.
Sample Cauchys dispersion constants Resonant wavelength
A
||
A

B
||
10
2
(nm
2
) B

10
2
(nm
2
) z

0
(nm) z

0
(nm)
Rayon acetate bers 1.4664 1.4611 6.1 10.7 36.16 48.17
I.M. Fouda et al. / Optik 125 (2014) 24422449 2447
0.10
0.12
0.14
0.16
0.18
0.20
0.22
0.24
0.26
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Exposure Time (min.)
C
r
y
s
t
a
l
l
i
n
i
t
y

15 W/cm
30 W/cm
45 W/cm
Fig. 4. The relation between the degrees of crystallinity y with exposure times for
rayon acetate ber at different intensity.
6.50E-18
6.70E-18
6.90E-18
7.10E-18
7.30E-18
7.50E-18
7.70E-18
7.90E-18
8.10E-18
8.30E-18
8.50E-18
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Exposure Time (min.)
S
t
r
e
s
s

o
p
t
i
c
a
l

c
o
e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
t

C
P
15 W/cm
30 W/cm
45 W/cm
Fig. 5. The relation between the stress optical coefcients Cs with exposure times
for rayon acetate bers at different intensity.
the region of visible wavelengths (546599nm.). The optical and
dielectric parameters calculated here enable one to predict the
properties and performance of the rayon acetate bers were given
in Table 3.
From the spectral dispersion of the refractive indices n
z
, the
values of E
d
and E
o
for or rayon acetate bers were determined
using Eq. (15). Fig. 8shows the plot of (n
2
1)
1
withE
2
approaches
a straight line, its intercept on the vertical axis is the ratio E
o
/E
d
and
the slope is 1/E
o
E
d
. Fromthese gures, the values of E
o
and E
d
were
1.50E-48
1.60E-48
1.70E-48
1.80E-48
1.90E-48
2.00E-48
2.10E-48
2.20E-48
2.30E-48
2.40E-48
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Exposure Time (min.)
T
h
e

s
e
g
m
e
n
t

a
n
i
s
o
t
r
o
p
y

s
15 W/cm
30 W/cm
45 W/cm
Fig. 6. The relation between the segment anisotropy s with exposure times for
rayon acetate bers at different intensity.
Fig. 7. (a) The variation of the refractive indices n
||
with 1/z
2
with different wave-
length for rayon acetate bers. (b) The variation of the refractive indices n

with
1/z
2
with different wavelength for rayon acetate bers.
Table 3
Values of the dielectric constant (D
||
, D

), and the dielectric susceptibilities (

||
,

)
at different wavelengths for rayon acetate bers.
z (nm) D
||
D

||

436 2.1597 2.1512 0.0923 0.0916

546 2.1566 2.1458 0.0920 0.0912
550 2.1563 2.1453 0.0920 0.0912
578 2.1554 2.1437 0.0919 0.0910
calculatedfor light vibratingparallel andperpendicular tothebers
axis and the results were given in Table 4.
4. Discussion
Rayon acetate bers are a suitable polymer for detailed com-
parative studies of molecular alignments because it is available in
0.8600
0.8620
0.8640
0.8660
0.8680
0.8700
0.8720
0.8740
0.8760
4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5
E (eV)
1
/
(

n
-
1
)
parallel
perpendicular
Fig. 8. The relation between 1/(n
2
1) and E
2
for rayon acetate bers to determined
the oscillation and dispersion energy.
2448 I.M. Fouda et al. / Optik 125 (2014) 24422449
Table 4
Values of oscillation energy (

c
,

c
) and dispersion energy (

d
,

d
) for rayon acetate
bers at T =19

C.
Sample

c
(eV)

c
(eV)

d
(eV)

d
(eV)
Rayon acetate bers 31.4 23.84 36.12 27.9
a number of distinctly different physical states and it can be read-
ily fabricated into transparent sheets, which are good enough for
optical measurements. The degree of orientation and the related
parameters could vary according to the ber history during man-
ufacture and subsequent processing operations. In addition, UV
irradiation enhances the anisotropic properties of bers by chang-
ing these parameters. The variation in the orientation of the chains
caused by increasing the time of irradiation increases the bire-
fringence and therefore the various optical orientation functions
increases. The changes in the optical parameters may be to alter-
ations in the electrical properties arising from the existing space
charges and the residual electric eld in the bers after preparation
[31].
The crystalline regions in polymers are affected by radiation
[4] so different parameters changes. So rayon acetate bers show
increase in some of the structural parameters such as the optical
congurationparameter, specic refractivityof dielectric alongand
across the ber axis, segment anisotropy, and stress optical coef-
cient with increasing time of radiations. Such effects are observed,
and due changes in all polymer parameters depending on change
the crystallinity where affects other parameters.
The radiation process is used to vary the degree of orientation
and other physical properties in polymeric materials. Studying the
radiation properties of rayon acetate bers is designed to establish
a connection between orientation and any other structural param-
eters that affects the enduse. As radiationdoses increase the energy
of the polymer promotes branching andcrosslinking reactions, give
thermoplastics properties of greater rigidity [32].
When a polymer is exposed to ionizing radiation, physical and
chemical changes occur. The degree to which the radiation affects
the polymer, depends on the chemical composition, general mor-
phology, free energy state of the polymer, and the radiation dose
applied (time, temperature, mechanical stress, etc.). Such effects
also cause the disordered crosslinking of the macromolecules and
the formation of branched and crosslinked structures.
Investigations in the eld of irradiation of polymers in the
presence of air led to a marked oxidation of the polymer. Some
investigators reported that the weight of the polymer increased
after irradiation in air, whereas gas evaluation caused a decrease in
the weight if irradiation occurred in vacuo [3335].
5. Conclusion
It is clear that the two-beaminterferometric method is a useful
andrapidtechniquetoclarifythechanges ontheoptical parameters
during exposure to UV radiation and used different wavelengths of
rayon acetate bers. The following conclusions may be drawn as a
result of the measurements and calculations related to the changes
in optical properties, density, and crystallinity parameters to UV
radiation effects in rayon acetate bers.
1. The effect of UV degradation on the refractive indices values of
n

affects less decrease than n

||
, so the mean birefringence gives
an increase with exposure time for rayon acetate bers.
2. Crystallinity depends greatly on the exposure to UV radiation,
which affects the molecular in rayon acetate bers. It is clear
that, crystallinity decreases with increasing the exposure times,
this behavior in the present results show that deformation is
accompanied by a reduction of crystallinity.
3. The stress optical coefcient C
s
and the segment anisotropy
s
increases with increasing exposure times, but the mean square
density uctuation

q
2

and UV stress o decrease at different

exposure times for rayon acetate bers.
4. The numerical value of resonant wavelengths characterizing the
dispersion activity for rayon acetate bers and found to be (z

c
=
36.16nm, z

c
= 48.17nm).
5. The plot of (n
2
1)
1
as a function with the square of photon
energy E
2
enables one to determine the oscillation and disper-
sionenergies (E
o
andE
d
) inthe parallel andperpendicular of light
vibrations for rayon acetate bers.
6. The principle optical parameters are suitable for evaluating the
dielectric constant and the dielectric susceptibility. Also, these
are indicative of the effect of structural transformation changes
on the optical parameters of rayon acetate bers.
Thus, the inuence of radiation and wavelength on the physi-
cal properties of polymers differs widely, depending on whether
the polymer crosslinks or degrades. Radiation gives degradation
always causes a steady decrease in most of the valuable properties
of polymers.
Acknowledgements
We would like to offer our deepest gratitude to Prof. Dr. A. A.
Hamza, President of the British University in Cairo (BUC), for his
efforts and support to the authors through his valuable insight and
participation in the progress and accomplishment of this work, and
would like to thank Prof. Dr. M. M. EL-Tonsy for using the UV lamps
in his laborotary.
References
[1] R.W. Moncrieff, Man-made Fibers, 6th ed., Newness Worth, London, 1964.
[2] J. Zimmerman, in: M. Dole (Ed.), In the Radiation Chemistry of Macromolecules,
Academic, NewYork, 1973.
[3] S.A. Nough, The effect of UV radiation on the optical properties of cellulose
triacetate, Radiat. Meas. 27 (1997) 499503.
[4] I.M. Fouda, H.M. Shabana, F.M. El-Sharkawy, Changes in orientation caused by
UV irradiation of nylon 6 bers, J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 88 (2003) 32023211.
[5] M.A. Cowd, Polymer Chemistry, John Murray, Ltd., London, 1982.
[6] V.N. Kuleznev, V.A. Shershnev, The Chemistry and Physics of Polymers, Mirs,
Moscow, 1990.
[7] I.M. Ward, Structure and Properties of Orientated Polymers, Applied Science,
London, 1975.
[8] P. Lapersonne, D.I. Bower, I.M. Ward, Benzene ring orientationinuniaxialplanar
poly (ethylene terephthalate) lms, Polymer 33 (1992) 12661276.
[9] Y. Fu, W.R. Busing, Y. Jin, K.A. Affholter, B. Wunderlich, Poly (ethylene tereph-
thalate) bers 1. Crystal structure and morphology studies with full-pattern
X-ray diffraction renement, Macromolecules 26 (1993) 21872193.
[10] P.B. Rim, C.J. Nelson, Properties of PET bers withhighmodulus andlowshrink-
age (HMLS). I. Yarn properties and morphology, J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 42 (1991)
18071813.
[11] I.M. Ward, Determination of molecular orientation by spectroscopic tech-
niques, Adv. Polym. Sci. 66 (1985) 81115.
[12] H. Zhang, J. Zhang, J. Chen, X. Hao, S. Wang, X. Feng, Effects of solar UVirradiation
on the tensile properties and structure of PPTA ber, Polym. Degrad. Stabil. 91
(2006) 27602767.
[13] S. Besbes, L. Bokobza, L. Monnerie, I. Bahar, B. Erman, An infrared dichroism
investigation of segmental orientation in dry and swollen poly (dimethyl silox-
ane) networks, Polymer 34 (1993) 11791183.
[14] R.A. Huijts, S.M. Peters, The relation between molecular orientation and bire-
fringence in PET and PEN bres, Polymer 35 (1994) 31193121.
[15] A.A. Hamza, M.A. Kabeel, Multiple-beam Fizeau fringes crossing a cylindrical
bre having multi-layers J, Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 19 (1986) 11751180.
[16] A.A. Hamza, M.A. Mabrouk, W.A. Ramadan, H.H. Wahba, Corindex determina-
tion of a thick ber using lens-bre interference (LFI) technique, Opt. Laser.
Eng. 42 (2004) 121126.
[17] M. Pluta, Double refracting interference microscope with commonly variable
amount and direction of wave front shear, Opt. Acta 18 (1971) 661675.
[18] M. Pluta, Interference microscopy of polymer bres, J. Microsc. 96 (1972)
309332.
I.M. Fouda et al. / Optik 125 (2014) 24422449 2449
[19] H. De Vries, A new approach to the continuum theory of birefringence of ori-
ented polymers, Z. Colloid. Polym. Sci. 257 (1979) 226238.
[20] N. Barakat, A.A. Hamza, Interferometry of Fibrous Materials, AdamHilger, UK,
1990.
[21] I.M. Fouda, E.A. Seisa, The activation energy and some structural parameters of
thermally treated polypropylene suture bers, Int. J. Polym. Mater. 58 (2009)
191201.
[22] A.D. Jenkins, Polymer Science, A Materials Science Hand Book, 1972, North-
Holland: Amsterdam.
[23] E. Riande, J. Guzman, Stress-optical behavior of cycloaliphatic polyesters, J.
Polym. Sci. Part B: Polym. Phys. 24 (1986) 28052819.
[24] B. Wunderlich, Macromolecular Physics, Crystal Structure Morphology, Defects
Academic, London, 1973.
[25] R.G. Griskey, Polymer Process Engineering, Chapman & Hall, London, 1995.
[26] E.W. Fischer, S. Fakirov, Structure and properties of polyethylene tephthalate
crystallized by annealing in the highly oriented state, J. Matter Sci. 11 (1976)
10411065.
[27] N.A. Subrahamanyam, Textbook of Optics, 9th ed., Brij Laboratory, Delhi, India,
1977.
[28] M. Born, E. Wolf, Principles of Optics, 6th ed., Pergamon, NewYork, 1989.
[29] S.H. Wemple, M. DiDomenico Jr., Behavior of the electronic dielectric constant
in covalent and ionic materials, Phys. Rev. B3 (1971) 13381351.
[30] S.H. Wemple, Material dispersion in optical bers, Appl. Opt. 18 (1979) 3135.
[31] I.M. Fouda, H.M. Shabana, Contribution of interferometry and mechanical
parameters in evaluating molecular orientation for drawn polyester, Polym.
Int. 48 (1999) 602607.
[32] A.Z. Zachariodes, S. Porter, The Strength and Stiffness of Polymer, Marcel
Dekker, NewYork, 1983.
[33] F.A. Makhlis, Radiation Physics and Chemistry of Polymers, Wiley, New York,
1975.
[34] S.A. Nough, L.A. Wahab, H.M. Eissa, The effect of UV radiation on the thermal
degradation of cellulose triacetate, Radiat. Meas. 30 (1999) 753757.
[35] A. Chapiro, Radiation Chemistry of Polymer Systems, Wiley, NewYork, 1962.