Synthesis and characterisation of smart poly vinyl ester / Pb2O3 nanocomposite for gamma radiation shielding

Abstract

Different ratios of Pb2O3 nanoparticles were mixed with poly vinyl ester to apply the same in gamma radiation shielding. Moreover, exposing the accelerated electron beam to the mixture proved to be an efficient tool to achieve the final cross-linking and optimum physical properties. Proper composition (PVE with 50% of Pb2O3 by weight) and irradiation dose (50 kGy) of the prepared nanocomposite (PVPbNC) led to a lesser amount of lead leachate. The PVPbNC was characterised in the following ways: chemically by using Fourier transformer infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermally by performing thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and morphologically by employing scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Different physical properties such as hardness, gel fraction (%), as well as water and toluene uptake (WR) were investigated. Additionally, gamma shielding properties and their impacts on PVPbNC such as attenuation% (att%) (at different thicknesses), which reached 86%, was measured. The half-value layer (HVL), tenth-value layer (TVL), mean free path (MFP), linear attenuation coefficient (μ) and mass attenuation coefficient (μm) (at different irradiation sources) were also evaluated. Furthermore, composite heaviness was studied in comparison to different traditional gamma radiation absorbers. The PVPbNC applicability in gamma shielding properties exceeded all previously performed glass systems, the majority of polymeric materials, as well as steel and metal alloys, and can be applied successfully in different fields. PVPbNC durability confirmed their applicability to being exposed to 662 keV up to 5000 kGy in comparison to different radiation absorbers that have been previously analysed.