On the neutron shielding efficacy of flexible silicone infused with CdO nanoparticles

Abstract

Shielding material is used for protection against harmful effect of ionizing radiations. This paper is aimed at studying the prospects of silicone elastomer based nanocomposites as neutron shielding material. Cadmium oxide (CdO) nanoparticles and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were used as filler medium in the nanocomposites, due to their exceptional neutron attenuation properties. The CdO nanoparticles were synthesized using composite-hydroxide-mediated (CHM) method and their structural purity was confirmed with x-ray diffraction data. Silicone/CdO/MWCNTs nanocomposites were fabricated by room-temperature-vulcanization (RTV) method, with different concentrations of nano-fillers (3, 6 and 9 % wt of CdO; 1 % wt of MWCNTs). The half value layer (HVL) thickness of the nanocomposites were found to be 7.44 cm, 5.90 cm and 5.72 cm, while the neutron removal cross sections were noted as 0.09307, 0.11732, and 0.12107 for the nanocomposites containing 3%, 6% and 9% of CdO, respectively. The Phy-X software was used to calculate the fast neutron removal cross-section and found it consistent with the experimental results. The results revealed that adding nano-fillers (CdO nanoparticles and MWCNTs) into silicone matrix not only enhanced the neutron shielding efficacy of nanocomposites but also have improved their mechanical properties and making it useful for neutron shielding applications.