Effectiveness of green-synthesized nickel-doped calcium ferrite nanoparticles in the X-ray/gamma radiation shielding applications

Abstract

Nanoparticles comprising calcium ferrite doped with Nickel within a concentration range of 10 to 50 mol% were successfully produced using a solution combustion technique, employing neem leaf extract as a reducing agent. The subsequent calcination process at 500 °C validated the formation of orthorhombic calcium ferrite, featuring distinct Bragg reflections indicative of Nickel doping. An analysis via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) affirmed the presence of irregularly shaped nanoparticles with pores and voids within their structure. The optical energy band gap, determined through Wood and Tauc’s relation, ranged from 2.89 to 2.97 eV. Notably, an increase in Nickel substitution was found to correlate with an increase in the energy band gap and a reduction in crystallite size. The research extensively evaluated the nanoparticles’ efficacy in radiation protection, encompassing parameters such as mass attenuation coefficient, mean free path, half-value layer, and effective atomic number. The mass attenuation coefficient is found to be 0.05353 cm2g−1 for 40 mol% at 1332 KeV. EABF is found to be large for 40 mol% at 0.89 MeV energy. Likewise, 50 mol% has a high Neutron absorption cross section (σab) which is 1.5(barn). Also, the bremsstrahlung dose rate is found to be 1.35 (R/h)*103, at 1.511 MeV.Additionally, the study comprehensively explored variations in the energy-absorbing buildup factor across diverse energy ranges, taking into account the Nickel concentration within the calcium ferrite nanoparticles. This aspect holds significant importance in the field of radiation dosimetry, particularly in applications related to neutron shielding and bremsstrahlung radiation.