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Characterisation of micro-sized and nano-sized tungsten oxide-epoxy composites for radiation shielding of diagnostic X-rays

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Noor Azman, N.
Siddiqui, Salim
Low, It Meng
Date
2013
Type
Journal Article

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Noor Azman, N. Z. and Siddiqui, S. A. and Low, I. M. 2013. Characterisation of micro-sized and nano-sized tungsten oxide-epoxy composites for radiation shielding of diagnostic X-rays. Materials Science and Engineering: C. 33 (8): pp. 4952-4857.
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Materials Science and Engineering C
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NOTICE: This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Materials Science and Engineering: C. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Materials Science and Engineering: C, Volume 33, Issue 8, December 2013, Pages 4952-4957. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2013.08.023

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Abstract

Characteristics of X-ray transmissions were investigated for epoxy composites filled with 2–10 vol% WO3 loadings using synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at 10–40 keV. The results obtained were used to determine the equivalent X-ray energies for the operating X-ray tube voltages of mammography and radiology machines. The results confirmed the superior attenuation ability of nano-sized WO3-epoxy composites in the energy range of 10–25 keV when compared to their micro-sized counterparts. However, at higher synchrotron radiation energies (i.e., 30–40 keV), the X-ray transmission characteristics were similar with no apparent size effect for both nano-sized and micro-sized WO3-epoxy composites. The equivalent X-ray energies for the operating X-ray tube voltages of the mammography unit (25–49 kV) were in the range of 15–25 keV. Similarly, for a radiology unit operating at 40–60 kV, the equivalent energy range was 25–40 keV, and for operating voltages greater than 60 kV (i.e., 70–100 kV), the equivalent energy was in excess of 40 keV. The mechanical properties of epoxy composites increased initially with an increase in the filler loading but a further increase in the WO3 loading resulted in deterioration of flexural strength, modulus and hardness.