Exploring the Influence of Nano Cadmium/Copper Sulfides on the Fluorescence and Radiation Shielding Features of Polyvinyl Alcohol/Polyethylene Glycol/Carboxymethyl Cellulose Blend
Ali Badawi, Zein K. Heiba, Saif A. Mouhammad, Mohamed Bakr Mohamed
Abstract
The aim of this work was to fabricate doped polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)/polyethylene glycol (PEG) blended polymers with CdS, CuS, or 0.5CdS/0.5CuS for application in photocatalysts and radiation shielding. PVA/CMC/PEG blended polymers with and without CdS, CuS, or 0.5CdS/0.5CuS were fabricated using the casting approach. The structure and morphology of all the samples were investigated. The fluorescence intensity of the doped blended polymers showed an uneven decline. The chromaticity CIE diagram for all the samples was determined. The blended polymers doped with CdS, CuS, or 0.5CdS/0.5CuS samples demonstrated an improvement in both mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) and linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) values throughout the entire energy range. The incorporation of CdS, CuS, or a 0.5CdS/0.5CuS composite into the host-blended polymer in various proportions led to a modest increase in the MAC values: MACCdS > MAC0.5Cds/0.5CuS > MACCuS. The values of half-value layer (HVL), tenth-value layers (TVL), mean free path (MFP) were reduced when CdS, CuS, or 0.5CdS/0.5CuS samples were inserted into the host blended polymer. The fast neutron removal cross-section (FNRCS) value increased with the addition of CdS, CuS, and 0.5CdS/0.5CuS.