Relationship between the Young's Modulus and the Crystallinity of Cross‐Linked Poly(ε‐caprolactone) as an Immobilization Membrane for Cancer Radiotherapy

Cancer is a leading cause of death in the world. In cancer radiotherapy, immobilization membranes composed of cross-linked poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) are utilized for patient positioning. A higher-dimensional stability of the membrane is urgently required to facilitate more accurate radiation dose delivery. It is extremely important to establish the relationship between the degree of crystallinity and the Young's modulus (E) because it determines the mechanical properties and can be modulated by crystallinity. When two components of the membrane with different strains are in contact, a gradient region adjacent to the interface is formed and confirmed by attenuated total reflection infrared microscopy. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Raman spectroscopy are used to scan the same area in the gradient region (14 µm × 14 µm) to characterize E and crystallinity (XRaman), respectively. This co-localized method ensures the accuracy of the relationship. Finally, 1764 AFM measurement data are processed and 49 pairs of E-XRaman data are obtained. The regression curve shows that E monotonically increases with XRaman. The nonlinearity of the curve may be attributed to the α-relaxation and cross-linking of PCL chains. The chemical structure of this material significantly impacts the mechanical properties, thus requiring future investigation.