“Red-Mud, A Golden Waste for Radiation Shielding”: Red-Mud Polymer Composites for High-Performance Radiation-Shielding Components

Red mud (RM) is generated in huge quantities and holds the ability to form radiation shielding structures due to its metal oxide-rich composition. In this work, this metal oxide-rich waste is converted into X-ray shielding sheets via a solution-casting technique incorporating polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a binder which holds RM particles together. We show a successful fabrication of sheets employing varying wt.% of RM (60, 70, 80, and 90 wt.%). The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) values have been compared to analyze what maximum RM wt.% can effectively shield diagnostic X-rays at energies of 60 kVp, 90 kVp, and 120 kVp. Structural characterizations of the fabricated samples have been examined through SEM, XRD, RAMAN, and FTIR. The LAC analysis revealed that 70 wt.% of RM with PVA binder yields highest radiation shielding. However, with increased wt.% of RM there is a catastrophic decrease in strength and shielding capability of the composite due to the formation of voids due to decreased wt.% of polymer binder. So, an innovative polymer-rich coating has been applied to RM composite having 90 wt.% of RM, which boosted the LAC and strength, but not more than RM composite having 70 or 80 wt.% of RM. The UV shielding analysis of best samples having 70 and 80 wt.% of RM was also analyzed to show the capability of RM in shielding UV along with X-ray.