Microfiber (MF) has a similar structure to natural leather. Four rare earth (RE) elements, La, Ce, Gd, and Er, were loaded onto the surface of microfibers through plant tannins to prepare a wearable microfiber-based X-ray shielding material (RE-MF), and the X-ray shielding performance was tested. The analysis results of ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicate that the rare earth elements can be uniformly loaded onto the surface of ultrafine fibers using plant tannins. The test results of X-ray shielding performance show that within the photon energy of 100 keV, the microfiber materials loaded with four rare earth elements have good X-ray shielding performance, and the shielding efficiency is increased with the increase of the loading amount of rare earth element and the thickness of microfiber. In the 20-80 keV energy range, the shielding efficiency of 2.6 mm Gd4-MF is up to 60% against X-rays, nearly equal to that of 0.25 mm lead plate but with non-toxicity, softness and wearability features. The test results of mechanical properties show that the microfiber-based X-ray protective material maintains the original good mechanical properties of microfibers, and is expected to be widely used in the field of X-ray protection.
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