Polymer Fibers Highly Filled with Styrene Maleic Anhydride-Modified PbWO₄ for Improved Wear Comfort of γ-ray-Shielding Articles

Personal protective equipment (PPE) with wear comfort and radiation protection safety are of immense significance to human personnel in radiation environments. Unfortunately, current rubber-based PPE fail to channel secreted sweat away during work, which usually causes reduced wear comfort and then affects working efficiency. Here, we propose a solution to these issues for textile-based PPEs with highly filled polymer fibers. PbWO4 (PWO) particles are first prepared and then superficially modified with styrene maleic anhydride (SMA) during a precipitation reaction. Then, highly filled PWO@SMA/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) fibers are obtained by solution blending and wet spinning in succession. Uniform dispersion of PWO particles and good compatibility of interfaces are observed for the highly filled fibers. All of the fibers display desired mechanical properties, leading to a stable weaving process. Importantly, the prepared fabrics have the ability to shield high-energy photons while allowing for air permeability. The 60 wt % PWO@SMA/PVA fabrics display a 31.13% γ-ray (105 keV) shielding rate and 66 mm/s air permeability. This work provides a feasible and effective strategy for fabricating highly filled polymer-based fibers, which offer a huge promise of improved wear comfort of PPEs for radiation protection.