Radiation-Protective Composite Binder Extended with Barium Hydrosilicates

Radiation safety of the rooms with X-ray sources often achieved by means of creating protective coatings. Such coatings are made of special mortar containing barite. There is the alternative for barite – barium hydrosilicates. It is advisable to synthesize barium hydrosilicates from available components – sodium hydrosilicates and soluble salts of barium. To improve the effectiveness of the protective coatings the composition and technology of the shielding material is recommended. In this work the synthesis was carried out by means of precipitation the barium hydrosilicates from solution of sodium hydrosilicates and barium chloride. It is found that composition of the synthesized product obtained by precipitation of sodium hydrosilicates with barium chloride contains barium hydrosilicates, barium carbonate and silicic acid. This is due to technological processes: intensive mixing of solutions leads to air entrapment. The properties of the composite binder made of portland cement and barium hydrosilicates are examined. It is shown that optimal composition for X-ray-protective binder comprises 20-30% of barium hydrosilicates synthesized with precipitant amount close to stoichiometric.