Synthesis of barium-doped PVC/Bi2WO6 composites for X-ray radiation shielding

Abstract

In this study, composites containing undoped and barium-doped Bi2WO6:Ba2+were investigated for their shielding against diagnostic X-ray. At first, Bi2WO6 and barium-doped Bi2WO6 were synthesized with different weight percentages of barium oxide through a hydrothermal process. The as-synthesized nanostructures were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Raman spectroscopy (RS). After that, some shields were generated with undoped and barium-doped Bi2WO6:Ba2+ nanostructure particles incorporated into polyvinyl chloride (PVC) polymer with different thicknesses and 15% weight of the nanostructure. Finally, the prepared samples were exposed to an X-ray tube at 40, 80, and 120 kV voltages, 10 mAs and, 44.5 cm SID (i.e. the distance from the X-ray beam source to the specimen). Linear and mass attenuation coefficients were also calculated for different samples. The results indicated that, among the samples, the one with 7.5 mmol barium-doped Bi2WO6 had the most attenuation at the voltage of 40kV, and the attenuation coefficients would increase with an increase in the amount of barium. The samples with 15 and 17.5 mmol barium-doped Bi2WO6 had higher attenuation than the others at 80 and 120 kV. Moreover, the half-value layer (HVL), tenth-value layer (TVL) and 0.25 mm lead equivalent thickness were calculated for all the samples. The lowest HVL value was for the sample with 7.5 mmol barium-doped Bi2WO6. As the result clearly show, an increment in the barium-doping content leads to a decrease in both HVL and TVL.In every three voltages, 0.25 mm lead equivalent thickness of the barium-doped composites (7.5 mmol and 15 mmol) had less than the other composites. The lowest value of 0.25 mm lead equivalent thickness was 7.5 barium-doped in 40 kV voltage and 15 mmol barium-doped in 80 kV and 120 kV voltages. These results were obtained only for 15% weight of the nanostructure.