Effect of Fe2O3/Al addition on the neutron shielding, microstructure, thermal, and mechanical properties of HDPE composites

Abstract

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) has been reinforced with various ratios of iron oxide (α-Fe2O3) and aluminum (Al) nanoparticles (NPs) to be used as shielding materials against nuclear radiation. The examination of scanning electron microscopy images (SEM) reveals small polymeric agglomerations besides the uniform dispersion of Al and α-Fe2O3 NPs. Also, all stress parameters () decremented after incorporating the 40 wt% α-Fe2O3 NPs into the HDPE matrix. Meanwhile, the mutual additions of Al powder with α-Fe2O3 NPs in samples P2 (30% α-Fe2O3/10% Al) and P3 (20% α-Fe2O3/20% Al) led to improving the tensile parameters. These results may be due to the physical reactions between α-Fe2O3 NPs and Al powder and polymeric chains. Generally, the polymeric materials are characterized as low-cost and lightweight compared to standard shielding materials. The fast neutrons and gamma-rays shielding properties of the prepared samples were experimentally measured using a shielded 239Pu-Be source and stilbene detector. The neutron removal cross-section () and gamma-ray liner attenuation coefficient (μ), in addition to the mean free path (MFP) and the half-value layer (HVL) for the prepared samples, have been calculated. The results showed that the nanocomposite containing 40% iron oxide had improved the neutron and gamma-ray shielding properties compared to the pure HDPE and other prepared nanocomposites. The values of MFP and HVL indicate that the prepared nanocomposites can be used for shielding gamma-rays and neutrons from radioactive isotopes and from other nuclear radiation facilities compared to common shielding materials such as concrete.