Characterization of proton-irradiated polyaniline nanoparticles using terahertz thermal spectroscopy

In this study, we investigated the changes in the molecular structure of polyaniline (PANI) nanoparticles illuminated by a proton beam using terahertz (THz) thermal spectroscopy based on the terahertz time-domain spectroscopy technique. PANI nanoparticles in water were exposed to a proton beam of 35 MeV energy with a particle fluence of 1013 particles/cm2. The photothermal properties of this solution of PANI nanoparticles were characterized using THz thermal spectroscopy. We measured the changes in the amplitudes of the reflected THz pulses to identify the variations in temperature induced by the photothermal effects of the PANI nanoparticle solution. The amplitude of a reflected THz pulse of the PANI solution not exposed to the proton beam increased when illuminated by an infrared light source, whereas that of THz signals of the PANI solution exposed to the proton beam hardly exhibited any changes. This implies that the molecular structure of PANI nanoparticles can be varied by a proton beam with a particle fluence above 1013 particles/cm2.