Impact of WO3-Nanoparticles on Silicone Rubber for Radiation Protection Efficiency

Metal Particle Pencil Beam Spray-Coating Method for High-Density Polymer-Resin Composites: Evaluation of Radiation-Shielding Sheet Properties

Medical shielding suits must be lightweight and satisfy the requirements of thin films to guarantee user mobility and safety. The thin film weight is related to the density and thickness, which are associated with the particle dispersion in shielding materials. An even distribution of metal particles in a polymer can maintain the spacing among them. This paper proposes a pencil beam spray-coating method that involves spraying a constant amount of a polyethylene and tungsten mixture in a thin beam onto a nonwoven fabric at a constant speed. This technique yields higher productivity than does the electrospinning method and is expected to produce materials with better shielding performance than that of materials obtained using the calender method. The shielding performance was evaluated by manufacturing shielding sheets (thickness: 0.48-0.54 mm) using the calender and pencil beam spray-coating methods under the same conditions. The densities and performances of the sheets differed significantly. The sheet manufactured using the proposed method had an even particle dispersion and exhibited 2-4% better shielding performance than did that manufactured using the calender method. Therefore, the pencil beam spray-coating method can effectively satisfy the requirements of thin films for medical radiation-shielding materials while increasing the material flexibility.

Assessment of Silicone Rubber/Lead Oxide Composites Enriched with Bi2O3, WO3, BaO, and SnO2 Nanoparticles for Radiation Shielding Applications

This study aimed to prepare silicone rubber composites with heavy metal oxide nanoparticles for gamma ray shielding applications. Different heavy metal oxide nanoparticles were incorporated into the silicone rubber matrix, and the prepared composites were characterized for their thermal, mechanical, and radiation shielding properties. The density of the prepared SR samples ranged from 1.25 to 2.611 g·cm^-3, with SR-2 having the highest density due to the presence of lead oxide. Additionally, the thermal stability of the materials improved with the addition of HMO nanoparticles, as indicated by TGA results. The prepared SR materials showed ultimate deformation displacement ranging from 14.17 to 21.23 mm, with the highest value recorded for SR-3 and the lowest for SR-2. We investigated the transmission factor (TF) of gamma rays through silicone rubber (SR) composites with different heavy metal oxide (HMO) nanoparticles. The addition of HMOs resulted in a decrease in TF values, indicating improved radiation shielding performance. The TF was found to be lowest in SR-5, which contained 15% of Bi₂O₃, WO₃, BaO, and Zr₂O₃ each. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) of the SR samples was also evaluated, and it was found that the incorporation of HMOs increased the probability of photon interactions, leading to improved radiation protection effectiveness. The half-value layer (HVL) of the SR samples was also examined, and it was found that the addition of HMOs resulted in a significant reduction in HVL values, particularly at low energy levels. SR-5 had the lowest HVL among the group, while SR-2, SR-3, and SR-4 had higher HVL values. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of using HMOs in enhancing the radiation shielding properties of SR composites, particularly for low-energy gamma rays.

Grafting of heavy metal oxides onto pure polyester for the interest of enhancing radiation shielding performance

In the interest of obtaining new polyester, heavy metal oxides PbCO3, Bi2O3, and CdO with numerous ratios have been added to the polyester resin. Five samples of labeled PR-1, PR-2, PR-3, PR-4, and PR-5 were prepared for this study. The values of linear attenuation coefficients (LAC) of the new polyester samples were measured using an HPGe detector. In the interest of ensuring the experimental setup, the value of LAC obtained from the HPGe detector as well as the value of LAC calculated using Phy-X software, have both been placed in one graph, which revealed a consistent result. The experimental value of those new polyester samples has been measured within the energy region 0.06–1.332 MeV, whereas the theoretical values have been calculated within the energy limit of 0.015–15 MeV. The results of all the new polyester samples showed an uplifting trend according to the rising energy at 0.06, 0.66, 1.17, and 1.33 MeV. At energy 0.06 MeV, sample PR-5 (ρ = 2.180 g/cm3) showed the lowest half value layer (HVL) among the polyester samples. This result is due to the addition of Bi2O3 and CdO into the samples’ composition, increasing their density and enhancing the polyester’s reduction ability. Considering the measured shielding parameters studied herein, it has been found that sample PR-5 (50 wt% Polymer resin, 25 wt% Bi2O3, 25 wt% CdO) had the highest shielding ability compared with the rest of the polyester samples.

Recent Metal Nanotheranostics for Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy: A Review

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in using nanoparticles in the medical sciences. Today, metal nanoparticles have many applications in medicine for tumor visualization, drug delivery, and early diagnosis, with different modalities such as X-ray imaging, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), etc., and treatment with radiation. This paper reviews recent findings of recent metal nanotheranostics in medical imaging and therapy. The study offers some critical insights into using different types of metal nanoparticles in medicine for cancer detection and treatment purposes. The data of this review study were gathered from multiple scientific citation websites such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science up through the end of January 2023. In the literature, many metal nanoparticles are used for medical applications. However, due to their high abundance, low price, and high performance for visualization and treatment, nanoparticles such as gold, bismuth, tungsten, tantalum, ytterbium, gadolinium, silver, iron, platinum, and lead have been investigated in this review study. This paper has highlighted the importance of gold, gadolinium, and iron-based metal nanoparticles in different forms for tumor visualization and treatment in medical applications due to their ease of functionalization, low toxicity, and superior biocompatibility.

Effect of Kaolin Clay and ZnO-Nanoparticles on the Radiation Shielding Properties of Epoxy Resin Composites

The use of radiation is mandatory in modern life, but the harms of radiation cannot be avoided. To minimize the effect of radiation, protection is required for the safety of the environment and human life. Hence, inventing a better shield than a conventional shielding material is the priority of researchers. Due to this reason, this current research deals with an innovative shielding material named EKZ samples having a composition of (epoxy resin (90-40) wt %-kaolin clay (10-25) wt %-ZnO-nano particles (0-35) wt %). The numerous compositional variations of (epoxy resin, kaolin clay, and ZnO-nano particles on the prepared EKZ samples varied the density of the samples from 1.24 to 1.95 g/cm³. The radiation shielding parameter of linear attenuation coefficient (LAC), half value layer (HVL), tenth value layer (TVL), and radiation protection efficiency (RPE) were measured to evaluate the radiation diffusion efficiency of newly made EKZ samples. These radiation shielding parameters were measured with the help of the HPGe detector utilizing the three-point sources (Am-241, Cs-137, and Co-60). The obtained results exposed that the value of linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) and radiation protection efficiency (RPE) was maximum, yet the value of half value layer (HVL), and tenth value layer (TVL), were minimum due to the greater amount of kaolin clay and ZnO-nanoparticles, whereas the amount of epoxy resin was lesser. In addition, it has been clear that as-prepared EKZ samples are suitable for low-dose shielding applications as well as EKZ-35 showed a better shielding ability.

A Comparative Study on X-ray Shielding and Mechanical Properties of Natural Rubber Latex Nanocomposites Containing Bi2O3 or BaSO4: Experimental and Numerical Determination

This work experimentally determined the X-ray shielding and morphological, density, and tensile properties of sulfur-vulcanized natural rubber latex (SVNRL) nanocomposites containing varying content of nano-Bi₂O₃ or nano-BaSO₄ from 0 to 200 phr in 100 phr increments, with modified procedures in sample preparation to overcome the insufficient strength of the samples found in other reports. The experimental X-ray shielding results, which were numerically verified using a web-based software package (XCOM), indicated that the overall X-ray attenuation abilities of the SVNRL nanocomposites generally increased with increasing filler content, with the 0.25-mm-thick SVNRL films containing 200 phr of the filler providing the highest overall X-ray shielding properties, as evidenced by the highest values of lead equivalence (Pb_eq) of 0.0371 mmPb and 0.0326 mmPb in Bi₂O₃/SVNRL nanocomposites, and 0.0326 mmPb and 0.0257 mmPb in BaSO₄/SVNRL nanocomposites, for 60 kV and 100 kV X-rays, respectively. The results also revealed that the addition of either filler increased the tensile modulus at 300% elongation (M300) and density but decreased the tensile strength and the elongation at break of the Bi₂O₃/SVNRL and BaSO₄/SVNRL nanocomposites. In addition, the modified procedures introduced in this work enabled the developed nanocomposites to acquire sufficient mechanical and X-ray shielding properties for potential use as medical X-ray protective gloves, with the recommended content of Bi₂O₃ and BaSO₄ being in the range of 95–140 phr and 105–120 phr, respectively (in accordance with the requirements outlined in ASTM D3578-19 and the value of Pb_eq being greater than 0.02 mmPb). Consequently, based on the overall outcomes of this work, the developed Bi₂O₃/SVNRL and BaSO₄/SVNRL nanocomposites show great potential for effective application in medical X-ray protective gloves, while the modified procedures could possibly be adopted for large-scale production.