Enhancement and optimization of gamma radiation shielding by doped nano HgO into nanoscale bentonite

Abstract

In this study, nano-scaled shielding materials were assembled and fabricated by doping different weight percentages of Nano-mercuric oxide (N-HgO) into Nano-Bentonite (N-Bent) based on using (100-x% N-Bent + x% N-HgO, x = 10, 20, 30, and 40 wt %). The fabricated N-HgO/N-Bent nanocomposites were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, and SEM and evaluated to evaluate their shielding properties toward gamma radiation by using four different γ-ray energies form three point sources; 356 keV from 133Ba, 662 keV from 137Cs as well as 1173, and 1332 keV from 60Co. The γ-rays mass attenuation coefficients were plotted as a function of the doped N-HgO concentrations into N-HgO/N-Bent nanocomposites. The computed values of mass attenuation coefficients (μm), effective atomic number (Zeff) and electron density (Nel) by the as-prepared samples were found to increase, while the half value layer (HVL) and mean free path (MFP) were identified to decrease upon increasing the N-HgO contents. It was concluded also that the increase in N-HgO concentration led to a direct increase in the mass attenuation coefficient from 0.10 to 0.17 cm2/g at 356 keV and from 0.08 to 0.09 cm2/g at 662 keV. However, a slight increase was observed in the identified mass attenuation coefficients at (1172 and 1332 keV).