Neutron attenuation and mechanical properties of polymer composites filled with boron carbide particles

Abstract

In this work, neutron attenuation and mechanical properties of thermoplastic natural rubber (TPNR) blend filled with boron carbide (B4C) have been studied as a function of filler loading. Thermoplastic natural rubber of high density polyethylene/natural rubber (HDPE/NR) blend with different amounts of boron carbide (5-20 wt%) have been prepared via melt blending method. All samples were subjected to neutron transmission and tensile tests. The results showed that neutron shielding performance of the composites were improved significantly with the addition of B4C into TPNR matrix. On the other hand, mechanical properties of the composites were found to decrease with increasing filler loading.