Polymer composites of Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were loaded up with micro and
nano PbO/CuO particles. The added percentage of each by mass was [10 wt.%,
20 wt.%, 30 wt.%, and 40 wt.%] plus 40 wt.% of mixed composite (20 wt.% CuO+
20 wt.% PbO). The mass and linear attenuation coefficients of the
investigated composites were measured as a function of ?-ray energies going
from 59.53 keV to 1408.01 keV utilizing standard radioactive point sources.
To confirm the validity of these results the attenuation coefficients for
bulk composites (PVC+PbO and PVC+CuO) were calculated by using XCOM
software. The results were in good agreement with the values obtained from
experimental work. On comparing the attenuation coefficients of the
different composites it was found that those loaded with either nano PbO or
CuO have higher values than those loaded with bulk sizes with the same
percentage. Also, samples loaded with nano PbO have the highest attenuation
coefficients even on comparing with (20 wt.% CuO+ 20 wt.% PbO), especially
in the energy region below 1 MeV, but for greater energies, the values
become very closed. The investigation of the mechanical properties of such
composites due to the injection of bulk and nano metals reveals that tensile
strength and Young?s modulus of PVC nanocomposite sheets were notably
increased with the increasing concentration of CuO and PbO nanoparticles.
CuO nanocomposite showed the highest values of flexural strength, toughness,
and tensile strength among all the fabricated nanocomposite sheets.