PbWO4 nanofibers for shielding gamma radiation: crystal growth, morphology and performance evaluation

Assembling anisotropic structures with versatility such as good thermal conductivity and mechanical loading for radiation shielding has recently attracted widespread attention. Herein, a facile strategy with (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (KH590) as a surfactant is used to synthesize one-dimensional (1D) PbWO4 structures. Their morphology evolution and crystal phase transition are traced during the growth process by SEM, TEM, and XRD techniques, respectively. The results show that monoclinic PbWO4 nanofibers with typical single-crystal attributes and high production are obtained with the addition of 5 wt% KH590. In addition, although PbWO4 nanoparticles display a slightly high attenuation coefficient for gamma radiation, 1D PbWO4 structures exhibit better thermal conductivity, tensile strength and elongation at break. These findings indicate that the prepared 1D PbWO4 structures have a very promising prospect in the application of state-of-the-art shielding materials for gamma radiation.