Effect of Bi2O3 particle sizes and addition of starch into Bi2O3–PVA composites for X-ray shielding

The effect of Bi2O3 particle sizes filled PVA composites on X-ray transmission for X-ray shielding purpose had been successfully fabricated and analyzed by using X-ray fluorescent spectroscopy (XRF) and mammography units with various low X-ray energy ranges. Besides, a preliminary investigation was carried out by using XRF unit to obtain the effect of starch addition into the composite on the X-ray transmissions by both particle sizes of Bi2O3–PVA composites. The results showed that the ability of the composite to attenuate the initial X-ray beam was augmented with the increased Bi2O3 weight percentage (wt%). The density of both particle sizes of Bi2O3–PVA composites was compared with the addition of 1 and 3 wt% starch, while a fluctuation of density occurred for the composites without starch. Moreover, the nano-sized Bi2O3–PVA composite without starch did not exemplify better X-ray attenuation capability compared to its micro-sized counterpart even though their density was higher than the micro-sized Bi2O3–PVA composite. However, the nano-sized Bi2O3–PVA composite with starch offered better particle size effect for X-ray shielding ability than its micro-sized counterpart compared to the Bi2O3–PVA composites without starch.