Effect of gamma and neutron irradiation on properties of boron nitride/epoxy resin composites

Abstract

Improving the radiation resistance of epoxy resin (EP) is pivotal for the reliability of equipment and the safety of facilities in the nuclear industry. Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is attractive in the preparation of radiation-resistant materials due to its good radiation stability and neutron shielding capability. In this work, h-BN/EP composites with enhanced radiation resistance were fabricated by solution blending. The tensile strength and thermal properties of the composites after γ-ray and neutron irradiation were investigated. The results showed that the addition of h-BN improved the mechanical property and the glassy transition temperature of the resin. The presence of low-level h-BN was favorable to enhance the radiation resistance of EP. As for composites with the 0.05% mass percentage of h-BN, the absorbed dose required to decrease relative tensile strength by 50% was about 300 kGy, which was higher than that of neat EP. The intrinsic mechanism of radiation resistance was attributed to the oxygen barrier effect as investigated by XPS and EPR. Then, benefiting from the absorbing neutrons capability of boron atoms, an addition of 0.55% h-BN to the EP resin could reduce the neutron transmittance of the resin by 5.6%. This study demonstrates that the blending with h-BN can increase the radiation-resistant property of EP resin, meanwhile augmenting the neutron shielding ability.