Recently, the new antibacterial, antioxidant, and high-temperature resistant lead plate developed by Zhonglead New Materials was officially released. This product has achieved significant innovation through nano interface engineering technology, successfully solving the industry pain points of traditional lead plates being prone to oxidation and microbial growth. After testing by authoritative institutions, its comprehensive protective performance in medical and nuclear industry scenarios has been improved by three times compared to traditional lead plates, and its service life has also been extended by three times, bringing a new solution to the field of radiation protection.
Traditional lead plates, as core shielding materials in fields such as medical radiation and nuclear industry, have long had significant performance shortcomings. In damp environments such as CT room wall interlayers and nuclear therapy wards, traditional lead plates are prone to electrochemical reactions with oxygen and water vapor, generating loose lead oxide and lead hydroxide, which can damage the substrate structure and cause radiation shielding performance degradation; At the same time, in scenarios where lead plates are directly exposed, such as industrial flaw detection workshops, the microorganisms that grow on the surface may also pose a risk of cross infection to workers, which has been troubling the development of the industry. The core innovation of the new lead plate developed this time lies in the 50-80nm nanocomposite functional coating constructed on its surface. The coating is prepared by the sol - gel method. Through the double effect protection mechanism of "physical barrier+chemical inhibition", the disadvantages of traditional lead plate are fundamentally solved.
In terms of antioxidant performance, the dense three-dimensional network structure formed by the nanocomposite coating has a porosity of ≤ 0.5%, which can effectively block the permeation channels of oxygen and water molecules. According to professional instrument testing, the permeability coefficient of the coating for oxygen is ≤ 1.2 × 10 ⁻¹⁴ cm ³ · cm/(cm ² · s · Pa), and the barrier efficiency for moisture is as high as 99.5% or more. At the same time, it can also inhibit the generation of lead hydroxide. After continuous testing for 12 months in an environment with a simulated medical wall interlayer temperature of 20-26 ℃ and a relative humidity of 60% -75%, the new lead plate showed no signs of oxidation or corrosion; Even when exposed to outdoor environments containing trace industrial dust at -5 ℃ -35 ℃ for the same period of time, its surface remains intact, while traditional lead plates tested at the same time have shown obvious rust spots.
In terms of antibacterial properties, 10-20nm nanoparticles doped in the coating become the core defense line. When these particles come into contact with microbial cell membranes, they can disrupt the membrane structure through electrostatic interactions, and the released silver ions can bind with active groups such as thiol and amino groups in the microbial body, blocking their metabolic processes. According to relevant standard tests, the antibacterial rate of the lead plate against common pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus is over 99%. The integrity of the E. coli cell membrane decreases by over 85% after 1 hour of contact with the coating, effectively avoiding the risk of contact infection in medical and industrial scenarios.
This new type of lead plate has also passed multidimensional mechanical performance verification, ensuring stability in practical applications. After testing, the adhesion of the coating is ≥ 5MPa. After rubbing 500 times with a Taber abrasion tester at a load of 500g and a speed of 60r/min, the coating wear amount is ≤ 0.8mg, and the antibacterial rate and antioxidant barrier efficiency are almost unchanged; After 1000 hours of xenon lamp aging test, the coating also showed no powdering or discoloration, and the functional performance degradation rate was only 1.2%.
At present, the new type of lead plate has been piloted and applied in multiple tertiary hospitals and nuclear power enterprises. In hospital CT rooms and nuclear therapy wards, it effectively avoids shielding loopholes caused by traditional lead plate oxidation, while preventing secondary pollution caused by lead ion leaching; In the auxiliary area of the nuclear power plant, the dense nano coating reduces the adsorption of radioactive particles, and the adsorption amount during subsequent cleaning is reduced by 90% compared to traditional lead plates, significantly reducing the risk of secondary radiation exposure. The R&D team stated that they will refine product specifications based on different scenario requirements in the future, promote their large-scale application in more radiation protection scenarios, and help upgrade safety protection in the medical and nuclear industries.
