Evaluation of Micro- and Nano-Bismuth(III) Oxide Coated Fabric for Environmentally Friendly X-Ray Shielding Materials

Abstract

This research focuses on the development of environmentally friendly textile-based shielding composites, from micro-sized and nanosized Bi 2 O 3 particles, against ionizing radiation. Polyester fabric dyne-coated with either micro- or nano-Bi 2 O 3 particles shields some X-rays but the effectiveness is poor. With only ∼58% uptake of micro-sized Bi 2 O 3 particles dyeing on polyester fabric, the insufficient amount of Bi 2 O 3 leaded to the low density of particles, resulting in only 30% of X-ray shielding at 80 kVp. Cotton fabric coated with either micro- or nano-Bi 2 O 3 /poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) composites, on the other hand, demonstrated the capacity to attenuate X-ray generated by high diagnostic X-ray tube voltages of 70–100 kVp, in compliance with medical protection requirements. The X-ray attenuation performance of cotton fabric coated with either micro-Bi 2 O 3 /PVA or nano-Bi 2 O 3 /PVA nanocomposite decreased progressively with increasing tube acceleration voltages, however their ionizing radiation-shielding performance enhanced with the number of fabric layers. Interestingly, for all X-ray tube voltages evaluated, the micro-Bi 2 O 3 /PVA composite outperformed the nano- Bi 2 O 3 /PVA composite in terms of X-ray shielding. At a weight ratio of 66.7% Bi 2 O 3 , 10 layers of cotton fabric coated with micro- Bi 2 O 3 /PVA composite can attenuate 90, 85, and 80% of X-ray photons at 70, 80, and 100 kVp, respectively. As a result, these less harmful X-ray shielding materials have the potential to replace lead-based composites, which are highly toxic to human health and have negative environmental consequences.

Multicomponent X-ray Shielding Using Sulfated Cerium Oxide and Bismuth Halide Composites

“…The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https: //www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/molecules28166045/s1, Figure S1 S1: Quantitative data on the chemical composition; Table S2: Comparison of X-ray-shielding performances. References [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44] are cited in the Supplementary Materials.…”

“…The following supporting information can be downloaded at: , Figure S1: Additional data for sample preparation; Figure S2: EDX of S-CeO 2 ; Figure S3: SEM images of PDMS; Figure S4: Elemental mapping of PDMS; Figure S5: SEM images of PDMS/S-CeO 2 ; Figure S6: Elemental mapping of PDMS/S-CeO 2 ; Figure S7: SEM images of PDMS/S-CeO 2 /BiI 3 ; Figure S8: Elemental mapping of PDMS/S-CeO 2 /BiI 3 ; Table S1: Quantitative data on the chemical composition; Table S2: Comparison of X-ray-shielding performances. References [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ] are cited in the Supplementary Materials.…”

Assessment of the Attenuation Properties of Commercial Lead-Free Radiation-Shielding Composite Materials Against Medical X-rays

“…To overcome all these concerns, lead-free protective materials have been proposed and introduced in the radiation protection industry as lighter-weight and non-toxic materials [11,. Lead-free composite materials containing radiation-shielding metals, such as bismuth (Bi) [38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47], barium (Ba) [47][48][49][50], tungsten (W) [51][52][53][54][55][56][57], antimony (Sb) [58], tin (Sn) [59], and others, dispersed in a polymer matrix, usually provide X-ray protection in a narrower range of photon energies than Pb, which depends on their atomic Z-number and K-absorption edge [11,13]. Different composite material structures and protective garment designs, where the shielding metals are arranged into a single-layer, bilayer, or multi-layer structure, have been proposed for efficient shielding against scatter and primary X-rays [24][25][26][27][28]60,61].…”

“…Different composite material structures and protective garment designs, where the shielding metals are arranged into a single-layer, bilayer, or multi-layer structure, have been proposed for efficient shielding against scatter and primary X-rays [24][25][26][27][28]60,61]. Some of the composite designs include more than one non-lead metal in a form of micrometer-and/or nano-sized particles dispersed in an elastomeric polymer matrix, [38][39][40][41][42][51][52][53][54]. Moreover, radiation-shielding fibers, yarns, and textiles, manufactured by different methods, such as coating, impregnation, and so on, have been proposed [62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71].…”

PbWO4 Synergistically Modified with Styrene Maleic Anhydride and Bis(dioctyl pyrophosphate) Ethylene Titanate in Highly Filled Polymer Fibers for Enhanced γ‐Ray Shielding Safety and Wear Comfort of Articles

“…Coating high-Z fillers on textiles has the ability to shield highenergy photons while it tends to be peeled off and reduce permeability. [14][15][16][17][18][19] Alternatively, polymer fibers containing high-Z fillers for fabrics seems to address wear comfort meanwhile radiation shielding safety. Some high-Z fillers, such as Bi 2 O 3 , WO 3 , Bi 2 WO 6 , and BaSO 4 , have been intensely applied to fabricated various polymer fibers for shielding X-rays.…”