Research Article Open Access

Polymer-based Nanocomposites of P(VDF-TrFE)/Bi₂O₃ Applied to X-ray

Abstract

Radiology procedures such as fluoroscopy provide high doses to patients because they involve long periods of direct X-rays beam pointing to the same region. Composite materials containing compounds or elements with good attenuation properties such as barium sulfate and lead have been studied elsewhere. In this study, polymer based composites made of Poly(vinylidene fluoride-tryfluorethylene) [P(VDFTrFE)] copolymers and micro and nanosized crystalline Bismuth Oxide were prepared. The main objective of this work was to identify the morphological differences between micro and nanocomposites and their performance as X-ray shielding material. The bismuth oxide was previously surface-modified with Methyl-Methacrylate Acid (MMA) in order to improve the homogeneity distribution. The X-ray shielding characterization was performed for photons with energies ranging from 6.5 keV to 83.5 keV. The nanocomposite P(VDF-TrFE)/nano Bi2O3-MMA revealed to have better attenuation features than the microcomposite, in the entire range of energy studied. DRX, DSC, FTIR and SEM images data were used in order to understand the difference in the radiation shielding features. The investigation has demonstrated that the P(VDFTrFE)/ nano Bi2O3-MMA nanocomposites are good candidates for application in radiology procedures as lightweight, conformable, flexible, and easy to process X-ray shielding materials.

Fontainha CCP, Baptista-Neto AT and Faria LO

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