Gadolinium-based ceramics doped with lead oxide for γ-ray shielding

Abstract

In this study, gadolinium-based ceramics (GdBa2Cu3Oy) doped with lead oxide (PbO) were prepared using the solid-state reaction approach. The effect of different PbO concentrations (x = 0.0, 2.0, 5.0, 10.0 wt%) on the structure, physical and optical peculiarities of GdBa2Cu3Oy lead oxide was investigated. The radiation attenuation characteristics were also estimated using Monte Carlo simulations. It was observed that the inclusion of PbO from 0.0 wt.% to 10.0 wt.% led to a significant change in the physical parameters of the prepared ceramics. The density of ceramics increased from 4.42 g/cm3 for x = 0.0 wt% to 4.53, 4.64, and 4.72 g/cm3 for x = 2.0, 5.0, and 10.0 wt%, respectively. The X-ray diffraction results showed that the pure GdBa2Cu3Oy ceramic was indexed as a polycrystalline orthorhombic phase. Some peaks related to BaPbO3 impurities were observed for the PbO-doped ceramics. The crystal size was found in the range of 21.1–41.18 nm, and the lattice strain was increased by adding PbO. The energy bandgap of the GdBa2Cu3Oy-doped PbO oxide was changed from 0.59 to 1.56 V with increasing PbO concentration up to 10.0 wt%. The prepared ceramics have shown good performance in radiation protection. The linear attenuation coefficient for the synthesized ceramic samples was examined utilizing the Monte Carlo N- particle transport code (MCNP), for the emitted gamma photons with energies varied in the interval extended from 0.15 to 15 MeV.