Attenuation parameters of polyvinyl alcohol-tungsten oxide composites at the photon energies 5.895, 6.490, 59.54 and 662 keV

The growing demand for lightweight, non-toxic and effective X- and gamma-ray shielding materials in various fields has led to the exploration of various polymer composites for shielding applications. In this study, tungsten filled polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composites of varying WO3 concentrations (0 - 50 wt%) were prepared by solution cast technique. The structural, morphological, and thermal properties of the prepared composite films were studied using X-ray diffraction technique (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The AC conductivity studies showed the low conductivity property of the composites. The X-ray (5.895 and 6.490 keV) and gamma-ray (59.54 and 662 keV) attenuation studies performed using CdTe and NaI(Tl) detector spectrometers revealed a noticeable increase in shielding efficiency with increase in filler wt%. The effective atomic number (Z(eff)) calculated by the direct method agreed with the values obtained using Auto-Z(eff) software. The % heaviness showed that tungsten filled polyvinyl alcohol composites are lighter than traditional shielding materials.