One-Pot Mechanochemical Dual-Functionalization of Bi Powder: Constructing High-Loading Flake Bi@PDMS Composites for...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Radiation Physics

Background:

• Traditional lead shielding poses toxicity and weight concerns.
• Unmodified bismuth fillers exhibit poor dispersion in polymer matrices.
• Developing lightweight, flexible, and effective X-ray shielding is crucial for advanced applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an improved "one-pot" ball milling method for modifying bismuth fillers.
• To create a flexible X-ray shielding composite with enhanced performance.
• To investigate the X-ray attenuation properties of bismuth-polymer composites.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a "one-pot" ball milling technique for in-situ silane modification of bismuth powder.
• Transformed bismuth powder into a flake-like morphology with covalent Si─O─Bi linkages.
• Dispersed modified bismuth (M-Bi) in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) at 70 wt% filler loading.

Main Results:

• Achieved uniform dispersion of hydrophobic M-Bi in PDMS, maintaining mechanical flexibility and thermal stability.
• The 0.2 cm-thick composite exhibited 92% X-ray shielding efficiency at 60 keV and 75% at 80 keV.
• Demonstrated superior radiation shielding performance compared to commercial lead shielding materials.

Conclusions:

• The developed method offers a scalable approach for producing lead-free, lightweight, and flexible X-ray shielding materials.
• The flake-like M-Bi@PDMS composite shows significant potential for wearable radiation protection.
• This research addresses limitations of conventional shielding and advances flexible radiation attenuation technologies.