Preparation, morphological, and mechanical characterization of titanium dioxide (TiO2)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composite for gamma-rays radiation shielding

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) has been prepared as a films with different volume ratios of titanium dioxide (TiO2). Atomic force microscope (AFM) was used to test morphology and grain size of the specimen surfaces. The results revealed that the surface roughness of specimen decreased with increasing the ratio of TiO2 whereas the grain size was increased. The stress-strain curves for TiO2/PVA composite films with 0%, 0.02%, 0.03%, and 0.04% TiO2 content are characterized. The mechanical performance of the TiO2/PVA composite films was clearly affected according to loaded TiO2 contrast to that of the pure film. Furthermore, the titanium dioxide (TiO2)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composite samples examined as a shielding material of gamma ray. linear attenuation coefficient was measured by using the Cesium-137 (Cs-137) and gamma-ray photons 662 keV as a radioactive source. It was shown that the efficiency of shielding material increased with increasing the loaded amount of TiO2.