A novel lightweight Fe3O4@Ti3C2Tx/EP composite with accordion-like structure for gamma radiation shielding

With the development of deep space exploration technology, it is particularly important to prepare a lightweight composite material with both electromagnetic and radiation shielding properties. Fe 3 O 4 has been widely used in the field of electromagnetic shielding due to its properties, while not much research has been done on Fe 3 O 4 in the field of radiation shielding. In this study, Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles achieving a uniform distribution between multilayer MXene (i.e., Ti 3 C 2 T x ), which not only demonstrates excellent dispersion within epoxy resin but also prevents the collapse of the Ti 3 C 2 T x layers, thus inheriting excellent gamma-rays absorption properties. Simultaneously, the presence of Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles has been demonstrated to increase the Fe concentration on the Ti 3 C 2 T x surface, thereby restricting the free movement of gamma-rays and optimizing its permittivity. The Fe 3 O 4 @Ti 3 C 2 T x /EP composite material has a high linear attenuation coefficient (0.71   cm −1 ) and outstanding gamma-ray shielding capability. The incorporation of Fe 3 O 4 @Ti 3 C 2 T x increases the shielding performance of the material by up to 6 times compared to epoxy resin. This work presents an avenue for the development of light-weight gamma ray shielding packaging materials.