Polyester‐Based Polymer Composites for Gamma Shielding Applications ‐ A Substitute for Lead

Abstract Tungsten oxide (WO 3 ) filled Isophthalic polyester based polymer composites were fabricated by open mould cast technique. The gamma shielding ability of the composites was investigated using gamma ray spectrometer for 80, 127, 356, 662, 1170 & 1332 keV gamma rays in detail and several shielding parameters were estimated to decide the shielding effectiveness of the polymer composites. The results show that, the linear attenuation coefficient increases upon adding tungsten oxide into the matrix and decreases with increase in the energy of gamma photons and is found to be maximum for 80 keV gamma rays. The half value layer thickness, tenth value layer thickness and relaxation length were found to decrease with increase in the filler Wt %, whereas, they were found to increase with increase in energy. XCOM & WinXCOM computer codes were used to estimate the electron density and Z eff of the composites theoretically. ISO+50 Wt % WO 3 composite is found to be just 18 % heavy with respect to lead and show better performance than lead at 80 keV and baryte at 127 keV and is almost comparable to steel and concrete in the higher energy range. Thus, lead (Pb) can be replaced by ISO+50 Wt % WO 3 composite for low energy gamma shielding applications.