Preparation and characterization of Epoxy/Lead oxide nano-composite for shield against gamma and X-rays

Polymer nano-composites are a group of materials that represent proper mechanical, chemical, thermal and optical properties due to the presence of certain percentages of a filler in a polymeric matrix. In this study lead oxide nanoparticles were prepared by direct precipitation method. Then the lead oxide-epoxy resin nanocomposite was prepared by mixing (without solvent) with different weight percentages of filler. Gamma-ray attenuation of nanocomposites was studied using a 137Cs source which produces gamma rays with energy of 662 keV. The results of the measurements show that nano-composite shields have a good performance compared to lead. The linear attenuation coefficient of samples increases as the filler concentration increases. Also composites contain the nano-sized particles as filler are more efficient than the one has macro-sized particles. Therefore, these types of shields are more relevant due to lightness, affordability and less environmental hazards.