Production of radiation shielding polymer composite reinforced with nanomaterials

Developments in the scientific world have made the use of radiation widespread in many sectors. However, besides the benefits of radiation, its vital harms have also been revealed. As a result, the need to minimize the damage while benefiting from radiation has been the subject of many researches. In this thesis, it is aimed to develop polymer composites with the ability to absorb radiation rays by using polymer binders. Terephthalic polyester resin was used as polymer binder in the matrix phase and glass fiber fabrics were used in the reinforcement phase in the composite samples produced. In the reinforcement phase, 0.01%, 0.05% and 0.1% single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) was used as nanomaterial reinforcement. In order to increase the radiation shielding efficiency of the produced composites, 50% of the resin weight micronized colemanite, barite and magnetite were used as filling materials in the production of composite materials. A total of 15 different types of composite plates were produced by preparing reference samples for all filling groups. Composites produced by hand lay-up method; Tensile, bending and impact strength tests were carried out to determine the mechanical properties, thermal conductivity and density tests were performed to determine the physical properties, and material characterizations were determined by performing SEM analysis. The absorption performances of the samples against neutron radiations were tested in an experimental setup with a 2 Ci activity and a 241Am-9Be neutron source with 4-5 MeV energy. Gamma radiation transmittance tests were carried out in an experimental setup with a 60Co source with an average energy value of 1,233 MeV. The results from the experimental studies were analyzed and compared with each other. According to the absorption tests, the highest shielding performance of neutron particles was demonstrated by the 0.05% SWCNT reinforced Colemanite filled composite plate with a thickness of 2.68 cm with a performance of 94.09%. The highest shielding performance against gamma rays was obtained in the 0.1% SWCNT barite filled sample (BC-1), whose linear attenuation coefficient (µ) and half value thickness (HVL) were calculated as 0.101 cm-1 and 6.871 cm, respectively. Results; It has been shown that SWCNT reinforcement has no significant effect against neutron radiation, but increases the linear attenuation coefficients of composites by up to 27% against gamma radiation.