Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Center for Nanofibers and Nanotechnology, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119077, Singapore
  • 2 Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 10607, Taiwan
  • 3 Nuclear Engineering Department, Shiraz University, Shiraz 71936-16548, Iran
  • 4 School of Engineering, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7, Canada
  • 5 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Engineering, Shiraz University, Zand Boulevard, Shiraz 71348-51154, Iran
  • 6 Department of Medical Nanotechnology, School of Advanced Medical Sciences and Technologies, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz 71348-14336, Iran
  • 7 Nanotechnology & Catalysis Research Center, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Polymers (Basel), 2020 Jun 23;12(6).
PMID: 32585991 DOI: 10.3390/polym12061407

Abstract

X-ray radiation is a harmful carcinogenic electromagnetic source that can adversely affect the health of living species and deteriorate the DNA of cells, thus it's vital to protect vulnerable sources from them. To address this flaw, the conductive polymeric structure of polyaniline (PANi) was reinforced with diverse filler loadings (i.e., 25 wt % and 50 wt %) of hybrid graphene oxide-iron tungsten nitride (ITN) flakes toward attenuation of X-ray beams and inhabitation of microorganisms' growth. Primary characterizations confirmed the successful decoration of graphene oxide (GO) with interconnected and highly dense structure of iron tungsten nitride with a density of about 24.21 g.cm⁻3 and reinforcement of PANi with GO-ITN. Additionally, the outcome of evaluations showed the superior performance of developed shields, where a shield with 1.2 mm thickness containing 50 wt % GO-ITN showed 131.73 % increase in the electrical conductivity (compared with neat PANi) along with 78.07%, 57.12%, and 44.99% decrease in the amplitude of the total irradiated X-ray waves at 30, 40, and 60 kVp tube voltages, respectively, compared with control X-ray dosage. More importantly, the developed shields not only showed non-toxic nature and improved the viability of cells, but also completely removed the selected microorganisms at a concentration of 1000 µg.mL-1.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.