Fabrication, characterization of neutron and proton shielding investigation of tungsten oxide dispersed-ultra high Mw polyethylene

In this work, ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene reinforced with Tungsten trioxide WO3 composite was synthesized. The SEM explores the morphological characteristics for current samples, and the obtained results show the homogenous disperse for WO3 particles in the UHMWPE matrix with little tendency of agglomerations. EDX profiles appear the increment of W (Tungsten) peak with increasing WO3 concentrations. While the XRD results show the same structure phase for all samples, but the addition of WO3 shows slight shifting in prominent peaks at 21 degrees and 24 degrees. The Raman spectrum exhibits four additional peaks for a sample containing 5 mol% of WO3 that affirms the existence of WO3 in this sample only. On another side, the 241Am/Be source, GEANT4, and Phy-X program were utilized to determine the neutron shielding features. Furthermore, the proton shielding properties were evaluated. Lastly, it was concluded that the prepared polyethylene could be utilized for neutron shielding applications.