Polymer Composite Material for Radiation Protection of Electron Linear Accelerators

The results of the synthesis of a polymer composite material based on a fluoroplastic mold powder filled with tungsten(VI) oxide are reported. Data on the modification of tungsten(VI) oxide with K-9 organosilicon resin are presented. It has been established that the creation of a silicon shell on the surface of oxide particles changes the hydrophilic nature of the surface to a hydrophobic one, which is evaluated by a change in the contact angle. Fluoroplastic and modified WO3 powders were mixed by cryogenic grinding for 30 min at a temperature below –60°C. Next, the homogenized powder mixture was loaded into a mold, heated to a temperature of 280°C, kept for 1 h, and then pressed at a specific pressure of 80 MPa. The flexural strength is 21.17 MPa at the filling of 30 wt % and 18.86 MPa at the filling of 60 wt %. The passage of electron radiation with energies from 1 to 10 MeV through the proposed composites has been simulated in the CASINO V2 software. Trajectories of electron motion have been plotted and the electron effective range in the specified composite material has been calculated.