Preparation and Shielding Properties of Polyvinyl Alcohol/Tungsten Composites

ABSTRACT In this paper, the surface of tungsten powder was modified by 3‐glycidyloxypropyl tri methoxy silane (GPTMS), and then the polyvinyl alcohol/tungsten (PVA/W) composites were prepared by solution blending method. The morphology, structure and thermal stability of the composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TG), and the shielding properties of the composites were tested by using 60 Co and 137 Cs as γ radiation sources and NaI (TI) crystal as detector. The results show that GPTMS can effectively improve the dispersion and compatibility of tungsten powder in the PVA matrix, and the shielding performance of the composite mainly depends on the content of tungsten powder. As the content of tungsten powder increased from 1 to 7 wt%, the linear attenuation coefficient value of the composite increased, and the half‐layer value decreased. The composites filled with nano‐sized tungsten powder has better shielding performance than that filled with micron‐sized tungsten powder.