General aspects of polymer radiolysis

In this section, we shall briefly review the various types of ionizing radiation and the way to generate them. The principle of dosimetry and the more important definitions of yield and of exposure and absorbed dose will be given. 

We shall then summarize the data on reactive intermediates and the changes in the chemical and physical properties induced by irradiation, more detailed results on individual polymers being referred to the following sections. Finally, some important industrial applications will be cited. General reviews of the field of polymer radiolysis are given in Refs. 1—3. 

---