Chemical Physics Impact (Jun 2021)
Effect of combination of two different filler loadings of electrospun Bi2O3/WO3/PVA nanofibre mats on X-ray attenuation study
Abstract
Electrospun of Bi2O3/WO3/PVA nanofibre mats with different WO3 (0–35 wt%) filler loadings at constant 5 wt% Bi2O3 filler loading or vice versa were fabricated for X-ray shielding purpose via an electrospinning process. The X-ray attenuation ability of the prepared electrospun Bi2O3/WO3/PVA nanofibre mats were compared at different X-ray energies (8.05–21.17 keV) using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) unit. The dispersion of Bi2O3/WO3 fillers within PVA nanofibre mats were analysed using FESEM. Results revealed that the increment of Bi2O3/WO3 filler loading within PVA nanofibre mats has enhanced the X-ray attenuation of the sample, but an opposite result was found for only the samples with (i) 20 wt% WO3 filler loading at constant 5 wt% Bi2O3 filler loading; and (ii) 30 wt% Bi2O3 filler loading at constant 5 wt% WO3 filler loading. The main reason for the deterioration of X-ray attenuation capability of these two samples might be due to the poor dispersions of the fillers found within the PVA nanofibre mats. Nevertheless, the outcome shows that the electrospun Bi2O3/WO3/PVA nanofibre mat with 35 wt% Bi2O3 filler loading and constant 5 wt% WO3 filler loading has the greatest X-ray attenuation ability compared to Bi2O3/WO3/PVA nanofibre mat for all filler loadings; thus it is recommended as X-ray shielding material candidate.
