polyvinyl alcohol films containing magnetite nanoparticles provide shielding from gamma rays

What is it about?

Recently, magnetite Fe3O4 nanocomposite films were developed by co-precipitation with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) for successfully applications in radiation protection of gamma radiation. The radiation shielding properties of the magnetite/PVA nanocomposite was compared with those of pure PVA and lead for radiation with a photon energy of 0.662MeV from a cesium-137 source. The magnetite/PVA nanocomposite outperforms pure PVA, which has only 8% of the shielding ability of lead. In contrast, the magnetite/PVA nanocomposite has nearly 59% of lead’s shielding ability, in terms of the linear attenuation coefficient, the fraction of photons that interact with the shielding medium per centimeter of shielding.

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Why is it important?

The magnetite nanocomposite surpasses lead for lightness and flexibility, being only 16% as dense as lead.