Flexible Polyurethane - Tungsten oxide based composite for γ radiation shielding

The present work aims to develop and study a tungsten oxide containing polymer composite as an alternative for gamma radiation shielding. The seven polymer samples with different weight percentages (0 wt%, 5 wt%, 10 wt%, 20 wt%, 30 wt%, 40 wt%, and 50 wt%) of tungsten oxide (WO₃) were fabricated using a solvent casting technique, and their radiation shielding properties were assessed experimentally. The radiation shielding properties such as linear and mass attenuation coefficients, half value layer, tenth value layer, mean free path, radiation protection efficiency, effective atomic number, and effective electron density were evaluated for the gamma-ray energy ranges between 81 and 1408 keV using gamma-ray spectroscopy with an HPGe detector. Geant4 simulations were also performed to corroborate the consistency of the experimental results. Furthermore, a comparative analysis was conducted between the experimental findings simulated predictions, and theoretical data obtained from Phy-X/PSD online software. Among all composite samples, the sample with the highest wt% of WO₃ shows the highest mass attenuation coefficient of about 2.947 cm²/g and linear attenuation coefficient of about 4.8 cm⁻¹. Also, the comparison of MAC, LAC, and HVL results of the 50 wt% PU-WO₃ sample with other polymer-based bismuth oxide composites at 81 keV gamma photons shows better gamma radiation shielding efficiency which makes it a promising material for gamma radiation shielding applications.