Silicone rubber composite reinforced by bismuth tungsten oxide as an effective gamma ray protective materials
Aly Saeed, W. A. Abu‐raia
Abstract
Abstract The workers’ continual exposure to nuclear radiation makes it indispensable to invent and form lightweight materials as flexible radiation shields. So, in this article, silicone rubber SR inlaid with varying filler ratios of bismuth tungsten oxide Bi 2 (WO 4 ) 3 was produced. Mechanical properties, hardness, tensile strength, tensile modulus, and elongation at break, of the SR/Bi 2 (WO 4 ) 3 composites were studied as a function of filler concentration and irradiation dose. The Bi 2 (WO 4 ) 3 filler enhanced these properties. On the other hand, with augmentation of irradiation dose, hardness of the SR/Bi 2 (WO 4 ) 3 composites increased and the other mechanical properties decreased. Under accurate geometry conditions, the gamma ray attenuation coefficients of the SR/Bi 2 (WO 4 ) 3 composites were studied at the energies 661.66, 1173.24, and 1332.5 keV. The attenuation parameters, linear attenuation coefficients $$\mu$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>μ</mml:mi> </mml:math> , experimental mass attenuation coefficients $${\sigma }_{exp.}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>σ</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>e</mml:mi> <mml:mi>x</mml:mi> <mml:mi>p</mml:mi> <mml:mo>.</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> , and half value layer HVL results revealed that the attenuation ability of the composite was enhanced with the increase of Bi 2 (WO 4 ) 3 concentration. The results of $${\sigma }_{exp.}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>σ</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>e</mml:mi> <mml:mi>x</mml:mi> <mml:mi>p</mml:mi> <mml:mo>.</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> were confirmed through their congruence with the theoretical calculations of mass attenuation coefficients $${\sigma }_{theo.}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>σ</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> <mml:mi>h</mml:mi> <mml:mi>e</mml:mi> <mml:mi>o</mml:mi> <mml:mo>.</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> Considering the merits of lightweight, high mechanical properties, superior attenuation ability, and appropriate irradiation resistance, the produced SR/Bi 2 (WO 4 ) 3 composite is suitable as durable and flexible gamma ray shields such as anti-radiation coats, gloves, shoes.