Preparation And Study Of Epoxy Resin Based Radiation Shielding Materials

With the rapid development of science and technology, nuclear science and technology has been widely used in national defense, industry, environment, energy and other fields. The application of nuclear technology has brought enormous economic and social benefits, but also increased the exposure opportunities to all kinds of radiation. As the vigorous development of aerospace engineering, radiation protection of space vehicles has become an issue of concern in the world. The injury to human and the damage to environment of radiation have been recognized gradually. How to minimize the hazard of radiation is very important and urgent work. Traditional radiation protection materials have been unable to meet current needs, so the research and development of new shielding materials are particularly important.Based on previous research and present needs, this paper mainly focus on the research of a new type of radiation shielding materials, using epoxy resin as matrix material and metal compounds (such as lead oxide, acrylic acid lead, erbium oxide, tungsten oxide) as functional component. The gained research results were as follows:(1) The PbO / epoxy composites are successfully prepared and their shielding properties are tested and analyzed byγ-ray energy equipment. All results reveal that our products have excellentγ-ray radiation shielding properties. The influences of PbO content on their radiation protection effects are also discussed and find that their radiation protection properties can be adjusted by the PbO content.(2) The radiation shielding properties of PbO / epoxy composite are simulated using EGSnrc software. The influences of PbO content andγ-ray energy on their radiation protection effects are detailedly discussed. The results reveal that the energy deposition (water area) mainly depends on the energy of incident particles. So, it is not necessary to blindly increasing the lead content in materials in order to shield low-energy rays. These results will provide basis for the design of radiation shielding materials in future.(3) Acrylic acid lead / epoxy composites are successfully prepared using aγ-radiation route. The microstructure and mechanical properties of as prepared materials are tested and analyzed. All results indicate that the sample has excellent radiation shielding properties and is a kind of outstanding lightweight shielding materials. The shielding properties toγ-ray radiation are detailedly studied. The influences ofγ-ray energy, curing methods and other factors on material performance are also discussed.(4) A new type of radiation shielding materials, using epoxy resin as matrix material and Er₂O₃ and WO₃ as functional component, are successfully prepared. The microstructure, mechanical properties, radiation shielding performance and radiation-resistant properties were characterized. Experimental results show that the materials have good mechanical properties, excellent radiation shielding and radiation-resistant properties. This kind of materials can be used in harsh radiation environment. The influences of Er₂O₃ and WO₃ on the performances of as prepared materials are discussed. This synthesis method can provide a new idea to develop other commercial radiation shielding materials.