Enhancing Gamma-Neutron Shielding Effectiveness of Polyvinylidene Fluoride for Potent Applications in Nuclear Industries: A Study on the Impact of Tungsten Carbide, Trioxide, and Disulfide Using EpiXS, Phy-X/PSD, and MCNP5 Code

Abstract

Background: Radiation protection is crucial in various fields due to the harmful effects of radiation. Shielding is used to reduce radiation exposure, but gamma radiation poses challenges due to its high energy and penetration capabilities.Materials and Methods: This work investigates the radiation shielding properties of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) samples containing different weight fraction of tungsten carbide (WC), tungsten trioxide (WO<sub>3</sub>), and tungsten disulfide (WS<sub>2</sub>). Parameters such as the mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), half-value layer (HVL), mean free path (MFP), effective atomic number (Z<sub>eff</sub>), and macroscopic effective removal cross-section for fast neutrons (Σ<sub>R</sub>) were calculated using the Phy-X/PSD software. EpiXS simulations were conducted for MAC validation.Results and Discussion: Increasing the weight fraction of the additives resulted in higher MAC values, indicating improved radiation shielding. PVDF–xWC showed the highest percentage increase in MAC values. MFP results indicated that PVDF–0.20WC has the lowest values, suggesting superior shielding properties compared to PVDF–0.20WO<sub>3</sub> and PVDF–0.20WS<sub>2</sub>. PVDF–0.20WC also exhibited the highest Z<sub>eff</sub> values, while PVDF–0.20WS2 showed a slightly higher increase in Z<sub>eff</sub> at energies of 0.662 and 1.333 MeV. PVDF–0.20WC has demonstrated the highest Σ<sub>R</sub> value, indicating effective shielding against fast neutrons, while PVDF–0.20WS2 had the lowest Σ<sub>R</sub> value. The Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport version 5 (MCNP5) simulations showed that PVDF–xWC attenuates gamma radiation more than pure PVDF, significantly decreasing the dose equivalent rate.Conclusion: Overall, this research provides insights into the radiation shielding properties of PVDF mixtures, with PVDF–xWC showing the most promising results.