A new epoxy resin composite developed for neutron shielding

A research team, led by Prof. HUANG Qunying, from the Institute of Nuclear Energy Safety Technology (INEST), Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), recently developed a novel neutron shielding composite.

This composite, called Sm₂O₃-APTES/AFG-90H, was with high thermal stability, mechanical properties and efficient neutron shielding performance, according to the team, which is important characteristics for neutron shielding materials in advanced nuclear energy systems.

The related research was published in the journal Polymers.

The high dispersion and good compatibility for fillers in polymers can ensure the comprehensive performance of epoxy resin composites.

Therefore, in this research, physicists used new high-performance epoxy resins AFG-90H and Sm₂O₃ as the matrix and filler, respectively to develop neutron shielding materials with higher performance. They also adopted the coupling agents (APTES) to modify the surface of Sm₂O₃ to improve the dispersion and compatibility of particles in AFG-90H resins.

Scientists conducted a series of comprehensive experiments to check the physical properties of the composite, in which the Monte Carlo particle transport software SuperMC was used to optimize the compositions to get high shielding efficiency.

After testing the initial thermal decomposition temperature, glass transition temperature and Young's modulus of the composite with 30wt% Sm₂O₃-APTES addition, they found the results were significantly improved compared with the AFG-90H matrix. For low Sm₂O₃-APTES addition, some of the residual stress in the composite could be dispersed by Sm₂O₃-APTES. For high Sm₂O₃-APTES addition, a large amount of local plastic deformation occurred near the equator of Sm₂O₃-APTES aggregates, resulting in the dissipation of the binding energy combined between the fillers and AFG-90H matrix.

The results provided new ideas for the R&D of high-performance neutron shielding materials in advanced nuclear energy systems.