Gamma-Ray Shielding Properties of Polypropylene Based Nanocomposites

In this work, non-toxic nanocomposites based on isotactic polypropylene and various content of tungsten oxide and aluminum oxide nanoparticles have been prepared to assess their gamma-ray shielding capability.Radiation shielding potential was studied by exposure of prepared nanocomposites to gamma radiation emitted from two different radioactive sources under varying thickness of nanocomposites. It was observed that low content of nanoparticles had no significant effect on attenuating gamma-ray. Besides, optimum percentage of nano tungsten oxide was evaluated 20 wt% in which the measured attenuation was equal to 60 % in exposure of 0.30 MeV gamma-ray. Furthermore, it was revealed that more gamma-ray attenuation can be achieved by increasing thickness of nanocomposite shield