Abstract:
Three micron spindle-shaped PbWO
4 with different microstructures are synthesized by varying the concentration of the surfactant CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) and the reaction time. The synthesized and commercial PbWO
4 are used as fillers, and mixed with B
4C and HDPE (high-density polyethene) to prepare composites for neutron and gamma-ray radiation shielding. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis reveals that the growth priority of the four main crystal planes of PbWO
4 is: (200) > (312) > (112) > (204). Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and specific surface area analyses reveal that PbWO
4 undergoes Ostwald ripening and oriented attachment mechanisms to form morphologically regular micron spindle-shaped microstructures, and their specific surface areas (
SBET) are 0.64 m
2/g, 1.02 m
2/g, and 1.76 m
2/g, respectively. The commercial PbWO
4 is an irregular structure and large-sized bulk with a much lower
SBET of 0.21 m
2/g. The thermostability and mechanical properties such as melt temperature (
Tp) and yield stress (
σy) of micron spindle-shaped PbWO
4-B
4C/HDPE composites are better than those of commercial PbWO
4-B
4C/HDPE. Pb has good ductility and can improve the tensile stress and toughness of the material. The neutron and gamma-ray radiation shielding tests show that the micron spindle-shaped PbWO
4-based composites with high specific surface areas have much better shielding performances than the commercial PbWO
4. The composite with the best radiation performance has a total neutron cross-section (
Σ) of 0.22 cm
−1 for
252Cf neutron source and a linear attenuation coefficient (
μ) of 0.099 cm
−1 for
137Cs gamma-ray source.