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Mathematical Modeling of PAG‐ and NIPAM‐Based Polymer Gel Dosimeters Contaminated by Oxygen and Inhibitor
Author(s) -
Koeva Valeria I.,
Daneshvar Shahab,
Senden Robert J.,
Imam A. H. M.,
Schreiner L. John,
McAuley Kimberley B.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
macromolecular theory and simulations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1521-3919
pISSN - 1022-1344
DOI - 10.1002/mats.200900023
Subject(s) - dosimeter , contamination , oxygen , copolymer , acrylamide , polymer , limiting oxygen concentration , polymerization , absorbed dose , materials science , chemistry , radiation , radiochemistry , biological system , chemical engineering , physics , organic chemistry , nuclear physics , engineering , ecology , biology
A mathematical model for crosslinking copolymerization of acrylamide (or NIPAM) and N,N ' ‐ methylenebisacrylamide is extended to account for contamination by oxygen and the inhibitor MEHQ. This model improves basic understanding of interactions among oxygen, MEHQ and polymerization reactions in gel dosimeters that are used to verify radiation doses delivered by cancer treatment equipment. Improved parameter estimates result in a good match between model predictions and data. The model predicts that a larger absorbed dose will be required to overcome the oxygen inhibition with increasing oxygen contamination, in agreement with experimental data. The model also predicts that MEHQ, in the absence of oxygen, has almost no influence on dosimeter response.