Scientists Created an Inexpensive and Practical Composite for Radiation Protection

11:16, June 22, 2023

The new material is environmentally friendly in both production and use

The material for protection against X-rays and gamma rays was offered by the researchers of the Ural Federal University as part of the international team. According to them, the new polymer composite can become a worthy alternative to lead, as it is completely harmless to the environment. The results were published in Radiation Physics and Chemistry.

Excessive radiation exposure is harmful to living organisms because it can cause serious diseases that can become hereditary, scientists explained. Large instantaneous doses of radiation and intermittent exposure to small doses are equally dangerous.

The most problematic in terms of protection is gamma radiation, which has a high penetrating power. The most common shielding material is lead. This element has a large atomic mass, and as a metal it has a high density. That is why it can effectively attenuate gamma rays.

Lead itself is extremely toxic. Its release into the environment has serious consequences. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that high levels of lead in the body affect the nervous system and brain, which can lead to death. Therefore, the disposal of spent lead structures is a significant problem for the nuclear power industry.

Researchers from the Ural Federal University and colleagues from Jordan and Malaysia conducted computational-experimental studies. They synthesized samples of a new shielding material - a composite of epoxy resin with a filler of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles.

"Tungsten, uranium and some other metals with high shielding capacity cannot be used for radiation protection for environmental and economic reasons. Pure polymers attenuate X-rays and gamma radiation poorly. However, by adding chemical elements with higher atomic numbers to them, their shielding capacity can be significantly increased," explained Oleg Tashlykov, co-author of the paper and professor at the UrFU Department of Nuclear Power Plants and Renewable Energy Sources.

According to the authors, such composites will be in demand in the nuclear power industry because of their resistance to heat and chemical exposure. The material can also be made stronger and stiffer than required.

"Our material is particularly useful when it comes to shielding hard-to-reach spaces with complex shapes. In addition, epoxy stands out among all polymers for its low production costs and ease of manufacture. Lead shields better than our composite, but this can be easily compensated by increasing the thickness of the construction," Tashlykov noted.

As its creators point out, the new composite is completely environmentally friendly in both production and use.

The research was conducted in collaboration with specialists from the University of Technology Malaysia and the Isra University (Jordan). In the future, the scientific team plans to test other fillers for the epoxy matrix and identify the most promising compositions. They also plan to study in detail the influence of the composite's manufacturing technology on its shielding properties.

The news article was translated by UrFU International Marketing Office. 
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