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ABSTRACT
In this study, the thermal and radiation shielding properties of composites obtained using
were prepared using WO3.2H2O powder in different ratios (10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%.),
and based on Styrene unsaturated polyester were used as resins. The linear attenuation
coefficients of the composites were measured by the NaI(Tl) gamma spectrometry system.
The attenuation coefficients were also calculated theoretically by the XCOM platform, taking
into consideration the basic analysis of composites, and compared with empirical outcomes.
According to the results of XRD and particle size distribution of WO 3.2H2O powder
demonstrated had obvious diffraction peaks and its pore size distribution values were good.
When the thermal degradation curves of the composites are examined, it is seen that the
remaining ash amounts of the prepared composites and the % mass of the prepared
composites overlap. It was clear that the best shielding material in the studied composites was
coefficient.
KEYWORDS
Radiation shielding materials are used in nuclear applications such as nuclear medicine, space
studies, and collimators. The types of radiation are gamma, x-rays, neutrons, protons, pi-
mesons, energetic ions, electrons, and other ionizing radiation. However, such radiations
endanger human health when interacting with humans. So, each of the particles has its energy
transfer property and requires special materials and devices to protect against radiation.
Gamma radiation (symbol γ), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from
the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei. It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic
waves (λ ˃10–12 m) and so imparts the highest photon energy which cannot be stabilized by
alpha or beta decays. For this reason, the particle type (alpha, beta) has a higher input than
ionizing radiation (1,2). Due to the variety of application areas of gamma radiation, it is of
great importance to look into the shielding materials. Different materials are used to shield
each type of radiation. To select the convenient type of protection materials, the type of
radiation, its energy, and the level of the reduced dose should be taken into consideration. An
effective shielding agent is determined by the interaction between the atoms of the absorbing
medium and the impressive radiation. However, the fact that the material is cheap and easily
available is also effective in its use as a shielding material. Elements that have a large mass
number and high density can be absorbed by gamma rays. Hence, a gamma ray is best
absorbed when such elements are used to absorb gamma radiation. As the mass of the element
increases, the absorbance property also increases(3). Different materials can be used for
radiation protection. For example, to protect from gamma-rays, concrete, tungsten, lead, steel
is used extensively. It is an effective material in reducing gamma rays due to its high atom
number and density (4). However, lead has a low melting point and is poisonous(5). Iron or
steel is also a widespread gamma-ray protection material but it is a very expensive material.
Although concrete is a less effective gamma-ray shielding material, it is widely used because
of its low cost. It has been emphasized in the literature that tungsten will be a material with
the potential to be used effectively and economically for small shields or collimators. So, it is
clear that tungsten will be a material with the potential to be used in many application areas.
(1) In the literature, some of the studies in which tungsten has been used are given. In one of
these studies, using the Monte Carlo method, a copolymer of tungsten and hydrogenated
(styrene-butadiene-styrene) SBS was obtained instead of lead. It was upheld the theory that
the idea of tungsten and polymer blended composites would be the intended shielding
prepared by mixing tungsten powder and polymer, and its potential for use in radiotherapy
was investigated(7). In another study, the effects of marble particles on polyester concrete
mixture were investigated. They studied the shielding potential of gamma rays (8,9).
The main purpose of this study is to prepare a commercially available polymer composite
with high radiation shielding properties and to investigate its gamma-ray absorption
efficiency. For this purpose, styrene-based unsaturated polyester composite materials were
prepared with tungsten(VI) oxide in certain percentages (10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%) and
the absorption potentials of these absorber materials were investigated at different gamma-ray
energies.
2.1. Materials
Styrene-based unsaturated polyester resin: Poliya brand Polipol 357-C (6% Co-doped, density
1.06-1.65 g / cm3). Methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (Promox brand, Promox P211TX). Sodium
tungstate dihydrate (99%, Merck). Hydrochloric acid (ACS reagent, 37%, Merck Company).
Hydrochloric acid (ACS reagent, 37%, Merck Company). Sodium Hydroxide (ACS reagent,
FT-IR spectra were recorded on a Perkin Elmer FTIR Spectrum One-B spectrometer. X-ray
scanned from 2 to 88 2-Theta in step sizes of 0.0130 and scanned at a step time of 148.92 s.
The particles sizes of WO3 were obtained from Mastersizer 3000 (MALVERN), TGA
600 °C with the heating speed at 20 °C/min under the nitrogen atmosphere. Sample weights
The clear diffraction peaks(Figure 1) of tungsten(VI) oxide are convenient with previous
The particle-size distribution of the WO3 was measured using a laser diffraction particle size
analyzer (Mastersizer 3000, Malvern Instruments Ltd, Worcestershire, U.K.) with Aero S dry
powder dispersion attachment. The particle size distribution was calculated from the light
scattering pattern using the Mie theory. The particle size distributions (PSDs), i.e., particle
size at 1% (Dv1), 50% ((Dv50), median diameter), 90% (Dv90) of the volume distribution
were all calculated automatically using the Mastersizer 3000 software based on Fraunhofer
theory.
Firstly, To produce styrene-based unsaturated polyester resin ( Poliya brand Polipol 357-C (6% Co-
doped, density 1.06-1.65 g / cm3) and methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (Promox brand, Promox P211TX)
was cured at 700C Figure 3a shows FTIR spectrum of resin, composite and WO3.2H2O. .
Similarly, WO3.2H2O nanoparticles was mixed with styrene-based unsaturated polyester resin
for an average of 20 minutes at a rate of 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% by mass. After
adding methyl ethyl ketone peroxide solution as a catalyst, the mixing process was continued
for another 10 minutes. After the mixing process is completed, it is poured into 10 cm x 10
cm molds and left to cure for 6 hours in the standard at 700C for each sample. (Figure 3b)
The experimental attenuation coefficients for composite samples were determined with a
gamma spectrometry system consisting of a 3" × 3" NaI (Tl) scintillation detector
analyzer. The NaI(Tl) detector which has an energy resolution of 7.5% for 137
Cs gamma rays
(662 keV), was shielded with lead bricks (110 mm thick) and covered internally with a copper
foil (1.5 mm). Also, a collimator setup was used to obtain good geometry measurements and
to protect the detector from scattered gamma rays. IAEA point source 137
Cs (662 keV) and
Co (1172 and 1332 keV) were utilized for irradiation of the composite samples. (Figure 4)
60
−μx
I =I 0 e
The linear attenuation coefficient varies according to the density of the composite material.
Therefore, the mass attenuation coefficient for the given gamma-ray energy is commonly used
regardless of the physical properties of the composite materials. In this study, theoretical mass
attenuation coefficients were obtained by using XCOM software (12) developed by Berger et
al. This program uses relative elemental fractions of composite materials to calculate the mass
attenuation coefficients. The density of composite materials was calculated according to the
literature (13). Hence, the relative elemental fractions and densities of styrene-based
linear attenuation coefficient values were calculated by multiplying the density of the
Composites %C %H %O %W Density(g/cm3)
Polymer 67.10 5.80 27.10 0 1.13
Gamma transmission parameters such as the half-value layer (HVL), the tenth value layer
(TVL), and the mean free path (MFP) were determined to support the practical information
ln2
HVL=
μ
ln 10
TVL=
μ
1
MFP=
μ
In this study, the styrene-based unsaturated polyester resin was purchased commercially and
used as the polymer matrix. Composites were prepared by using WO 3.2H2O nanoparticles in
different ratios (10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%). Functional groups containing monomer or
polymers for example (-OH, –NH2,–CHO, –COOH) make these compounds more excellent
than other polymer compounds and let them chemically bind to each other. Different
polymers or polymeric composites and inorganic salts are included in different radiation
protective materials. In the literature, the radiation shielding potential of some composite
materials prepared with tungsten was investigated. In a study, a copolymer of tungsten and
our study, unlike other studies, polymer composites were formed with strong interactions
between the commercial polymer and the inorganic salt, tungsten (VI) oxide, and these
interactions gave the structure a more homogeneous distribution feature and a more tightly
packed and denser structure was obtained. Particle size and crystallinity (XRD) of WO 3. 2H2O
are demonstrated in Figure 1. and Figure 3a. Both particle size analysis (Dv (1) 0.338 μm Dv
(10) 0.525 μm Dv (50) 1.37 μm Dv (90) 26.1 μm) and XRD analysis performed above have
The experimental linear attenuation coefficients of the composites were measured for
662, 1172, and 1332 keV gamma energies. The results of the gamma radiation tests were
absorption potentials of these absorber materials at all studied gamma-ray energies. In this
coefficients from 0.0960 to 0.1803 for 662 keV, from 0.0739 to 0.1206 for 1173 keV, and
0.1000
0.0800
0.0600
0.0400
0.0200
0.0000
0% WO3 10%WO3 20%WO3 30%WO3 40%WO3 50%WO3
Figure 5. Experimental linear attenuation coefficients of the composites for 662, 1172, and
Besides experimental results, the theoretical coefficients were calculated for the
studied gamma energies. The comparison of experimental and theoretical linear attenuation
coefficients is given in Table 2. Figure 6 shows the linear regression analysis results
indicating that the theoretical and experimental values were in good agreement. Both
energy. As can be seen, in all energies, the lowest values of attenuation coefficients were
Table 2. Experimental and theoretical results linear attenuation coefficients of the polymer
composites
Experimental µ (cm-1) Theoretical µ (cm-1)
Composites
662 keV 1173 keV 1332 keV 662 keV 1173 keV 1332 keV
Polymer+0% WO3 0.0960 ± 0.0082 0.0739 ± 0.0033 0.0684 ± 0.0051 0.0922 0.0702 0.0658
Polymer+10%WO3 0.1068 ± 0.0100 0.0825 ± 0.0069 0.0797 ± 0.0067 0.1027 0.0766 0.0716
Polymer+20%WO3 0.1199 ± 0.0123 0.0912 ± 0.0080 0.0875 ± 0.0075 0.1142 0.0835 0.0780
Polymer+30%WO3 0.1352 ± 0.0155 0.0990 ± 0.0093 0.0989 ± 0.0095 0.1287 0.0922 0.0859
Polymer+40%WO3 0.1648 ± 0.0235 0.1203 ± 0.0135 0.1205 ± 0.0136 0.1555 0.1092 0.1016
Polymer+50%WO3 0.1803 ± 0.0286 0.1206 ± 0.0138 0.1233 ± 0.0144 0.1717 0.1182 0.1098
662 keV
0.1900
0.1700
f(x) = 0.933452784628907 x + 0.00256858565716463
R² = 0.999640414243625
0.1500
µTheo (cm-1)
0.1300
0.1100
0.0900
0.0700
0.0700 0.0900 0.1100 0.1300 0.1500 0.1700 0.1900
µExp (cm-1)
(a)
1332 keV
0.1200
0.1100
f(x) = 0.772216239337728 x + 0.011028008131832
0.1000
R² = 0.982639146481064
µTheo (cm-1)
0.0900
0.0800
0.0700
0.0600
0.0600 0.0700 0.0800 0.0900 0.1000 0.1100 0.1200 0.1300
µExp (cm-1)
(b)
1173 keV
0.1300
0.1200
0.1000
0.0900
0.0800
0.0700
0.0600
0.0600 0.0700 0.0800 0.0900 0.1000 0.1100 0.1200 0.1300
µExp (cm-1)
(c)
Figure 6. Linear regression analysis for µExp and µTheo correlation for (a) 662 keV, (b) 1173
The correlation between the density and the experimental linear attenuation coefficient
with regression analysis was investigated for all gamma energies and shown in Figure 7. It can
be seen that the correlation fit is more consistent for 662 keV.
0.2000
0.1200 f(x)
f(x) == 0.0739149473352006
0.0641496705984457 xx −+ 0.00993099925046353
0.00564805712256893
R²
R² == 0.941060606848624
0.926604137115439
0.1000
0.0800
0.0600
1.00 1.10 1.20 1.30 1.40 1.50 1.60 1.70 1.80 1.90 2.00
Density (g/cm3)
Figure 7. Correlation between the density of the composites and the experimental linear
attenuation coefficients for 662 keV, 1173 keV, and 1332 keV photon energies.
required, while the thickness of 3.8 cm from Polymer+50%WO3 is sufficient to reduce the
intensity of the 662 keV gamma energy. Likewise, TVL and MFP values for
Polymer+50%WO3 are noticeably lower than the other values of the other composites.
HVL for 662 keV HVL for 1173 keV HVL for 1332 keV
TVL for 662 keV TVL for 1173 keV TVL for 1332 keV
MFP for 662 keV MFP for 1173 keV MFP for 1332 keV
Figure 8. Gamma transmission parameters of the composites for studied photon energies.
When the results for this study are compared with the values in the literature (see
Table 3), our results were similar or a little more the data in the literature. For example, Eren
et al. calculated the linear attenuation coefficients for polyethylene- 30% tungsten oxide and
polyethylene- 30% lead oxide composites and found 0.121, 0.129 cm-1 respectively(16).
Verdipor et al. the linear attenuation coefficients of 50% W03 (micro)-silicon resin composites
were found to be 0.140 cm-1(17). Bagheri et al. linear attenuation coefficients were found to
be 0.133 cm-1 for 30% PbO-unsaturated polyester-nano clay composites by weight(18). Bel et
al. calculated theoretically the linear attenuation coefficients PMMA/30% CMT and
composites were found to be 0.170, 0.167cm-1 respectively(15). But as the metal ratio
increases, it seems that the coefficient of our study is higher. We can attribute this situation to
tungsten oxide and styrene-based unsaturated polyester that we used in our study.
Theoretical 0.153
Silicon 50% WO3 Experimental - Verdipor et al.
comp. (2018)
Theoretical 0.140
Poly(HEMA-co- Experimental 0.170 Korpinar et al.
Styrene)/50% (2020)
WO3.2H20
comp. Theoretical 0.167
TGA measurement
4. Conclusion
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