Non-toxic soft shielding materials for wearable X-ray protection

Although X‑rays revolutionized diagnostics, their health risks and lead shields’ toxicity and environmental hazards demand safer, practical wearable alternatives. Bismuth, a non-toxic element with a high atomic number, has emerged as a promising candidate for radiation shielding applications. Recent efforts to develop Bi‑compound/polymer soft shields are limited by the polymer’s low attenuation and its low‑Z non‑Bi components. In this study, we introduce a fully metallic, non-toxic, and soft material composed of gallium, indium, and bismuth particles for wearable X-ray protection. Through careful compositional tuning and processing, we successfully achieved a room-temperature soft material with excellent mechanical flexibility and strong X-ray attenuation performance. Both theoretical calculations and experimental measurements confirmed the composite’s high shielding efficiency. Furthermore, the material exhibited strong adhesion and conformability when applied to textile substrates. These results highlight the promise of this material as a soft, non-toxic, and wearable solution for X-ray radiation protection.