A New Polyester Based Polymer Composite For Shielding Soft Gamma Rays

摘要

Finely ground particulate Tungsten Oxide filled Isophthalate Polyester based polymer composites have been fabricated for different concentrations of WO3 using a simple and well established Open mould cast technique. The gamma shielding ability of the composites was studied using a gamma ray spectrometer for 80 & 127 keV gamma rays. The shielding parameters such as linear & mass attenuation coefficients, HVL and relaxation lengths were evaluated. The linear attenuation coefficient is found to increase with increase in the density of the composites. The mass attenuation coefficient ranges from 0.162 - 2.34cm~2/gm and 0.15-0.89cm~2/gm for 80 & 127keV gamma rays respectively. The shielding ability of the composites increases with increase in the filler wt% and decreases with increase in energy. Thus, the novel lead free, polymer composites perform well as radiation shields and their shielding ability is comparable to lead in performance.