Microfibers nanocomposite based on polyacrylonitrile fibers/bismuth oxide nanoparticles as X-ray shielding material

The main focus of the current study was to fabricate fibrous nanocomposite based on polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers containing Bi2O3 NPs as the X-ray shielding material. Bi2O3 NPs were synthesized based on the solid dispersion evaporation method and dispersed into PAN polymer solution with different weight concentrations. The electrospinning technique was used to fabricate nanocomposite. The morphology, surface functional group, wettability, elemental analysis, and X-ray shielding efficacy of the fabricated nanocomposite were thoroughly evaluated. The dimeter of the fibrous nanocomposites containing 10, 20, and 30 wt% Bi2O3 NPs were 1.33 +/- 0.08, 1.01 +/- 0.11, and 1.69 +/- 0.32 mu m, respectively. EDX elemental analysis showed that NPs were uniformly distributed into/onto the fibers. The X-ray shielding studies showed that the prepared nanocomposites effectively attenuate the intensity of the X-ray. The entrance surface dose for the negative control was 24.10 +/- 1.71 mSv and the application of the nanocomposites significantly reduced the entrance surface dose. The results showed NPs concentration-dependent CT number shift as the indication of X-ray protection and the highest value was obtained by 30 wt% NPs. The obtained results implied that the fabricated nanocomposites effectively attenuate the radiation and they could be applied as the X-ray shielding materials.

Automated summary

The study fabricated fibrous nanocomposites with different weight concentrations of Bi2O3 NPs and evaluated their morphology, surface functional group, wettability, elemental analysis, and X-ray shielding efficacy. The results showed that the fabricated nanocomposites effectively attenuate X-ray intensity, indicating their potential application as X-ray shielding materials.