Radiation shielding property of structural polymer composite: Continuous basalt fiber reinforced epoxy matrix composite containing erbium oxide

For protecting human body and equipment against radiation in nuclear power industry, radiation medicine and aerospace exploration, advanced materials possessing good shielding capability, low density and high mechanical strength and modulus are in urgent demand. In this study, radiation protective basalt fiber (BF) reinforced epoxy matrix composite containing erbium oxide (Er2O3) particles was fabricated by prepreg-autoclave process, in order to make a novel mechanical/radiation shielding composite. For prepared unidirectional and quasi-isotropic BF/Er2O3 composite laminates, basalt fibers and Er2O3 particles distributed uniformly, and no obvious agglomeration of particles and defects were found. NaI(Tl) detector was used to test mass attenuation coefficient for evaluating X and gamma rays shielding performance at different photon energies ranging from 31 keV to 662 keV. The experimental results indicate that BF/Er2O3 composite shows good X and gamma rays shielding performance, and mass attenuation coefficient of BF/Er2O3 composite is much larger than that of aluminum in relatively low energy from 31 keV to 80 keV. The effect of prepreg stacking consequence on shielding performance was also discussed. In addition, to verify the applicability of classic “mixture role” on mass attenuation coefficient of anisotropic composites, theoretical mass attenuation coefficient at different photon energies was calculated using XCOM software based on the weight fraction and mass attenuation coefficient of each constituent element among BF/Er2O3 composite. It is found that there is maximum deviation of 10.3% between experimental and theoretical results. Thus, it is believed that the method is suitable for predicting shielding performance of continuous fiber reinforced composite materials. Considering the advantages in light weight and high mechanical property, the studied three-phase composite is promising for using in radiation shielding structure application.