A Comparative Study on X-ray Shielding and Mechanical Properties of Natural Rubber Latex Nanocomposites Containing BiO or BaSO: Experimental and Numerical Determination.

This work experimentally determined the X-ray shielding and morphological, density, and tensile properties of sulfur-vulcanized natural rubber latex (SVNRL) nanocomposites containing varying content of nano-BiO or nano-BaSO from 0 to 200 phr in 100 phr increments, with modified procedures in sample preparation to overcome the insufficient strength of the samples found in other reports. The experimental X-ray shielding results, which were numerically verified using a web-based software package (XCOM), indicated that the overall X-ray attenuation abilities of the SVNRL nanocomposites generally increased with increasing filler content, with the 0.25-mm-thick SVNRL films containing 200 phr of the filler providing the highest overall X-ray shielding properties, as evidenced by the highest values of lead equivalence (Pb) of 0.0371 mmPb and 0.0326 mmPb in BiO/SVNRL nanocomposites, and 0.0326 mmPb and 0.0257 mmPb in BaSO/SVNRL nanocomposites, for 60 kV and 100 kV X-rays, respectively. The results also revealed that the addition of either filler increased the tensile modulus at 300% elongation (M300) and density but decreased the tensile strength and the elongation at break of the BiO/SVNRL and BaSO/SVNRL nanocomposites. In addition, the modified procedures introduced in this work enabled the developed nanocomposites to acquire sufficient mechanical and X-ray shielding properties for potential use as medical X-ray protective gloves, with the recommended content of BiO and BaSO being in the range of 95-140 phr and 105-120 phr, respectively (in accordance with the requirements outlined in ASTM D3578-19 and the value of Pb being greater than 0.02 mmPb). Consequently, based on the overall outcomes of this work, the developed BiO/SVNRL and BaSO/SVNRL nanocomposites show great potential for effective application in medical X-ray protective gloves, while the modified procedures could possibly be adopted for large-scale production.