Determination Of Mass Attenuation Coefficients Research Articles

Selected germanate glass systems with robust physical features for radiation protection material use

This study aimed to examine the radiation shielding capabilities of four distinct germanate glass systems with compositions of TeO2-GeO2-ZnO, B2O3-GeO2-Eu2O3-R2O3 (where RY, La and Gd), Li2O–Sb2O3- GeO2-XO (where X = Pb, Zn, Ba, Sr and Ca) and Li2O-GeO2-PbO-Nd2O3 at different photon energies ranging from 0.015 to 10 MeV respectively. The present study involved the determination of mass attenuation coefficients (MAC), effective atomic number (Zeff), and half value layer for four distinct germanate glass systems. The influence of chemical composition, sample density, and photon energy on these parameters was also discussed. The findings indicate that the substitution of TeO2 with ZnO leads to a reduction in the values of both the mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) and the effective atomic number (Zeff) in the glasses composed of TeO2-GeO2-ZnO. Furthermore, it has been discovered that within the B2O3-GeO2-Eu2O3-R2O3 glass system, the highest values of MAC are observed in the glass containing Gd2O3. The sample that contained PbO exhibited the highest MAC and Zeff values among the Li2O–Sb2O3-GeO2-XO glass systems. Furthermore, the findings of this study indicate that the glass specimen containing CaO exhibits the least values of MAC and Zeff within the given system. The findings indicate that the values of MAC in the Li2O-GeO2-PbO-Nd2O3 glass system exhibit an upward trend with the rise in Nd2O3 concentration from 0 to 2 mol%.

Calculation of NaI(Tl) detector efficiency using 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K radioisotopes: Three-phase Monte Carlo simulation study

Abstract Thallium-activated sodium iodide (NaI(Tl)) detectors can be used in gamma cameras, environmental radiation assessments, including radiation emission levels from nuclear reactors, and radiation analysis equipment. This three-phase investigation aimed to model a standard NaI(Tl) detector using the Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended (MCNPX) general-purpose Monte Carlo simulation techniques. Accordingly, a standard NaI(Tl) detector was designed along with the required properties. Next a validation study of the modelled NaI(Tl) detector has been performed based on the experimental results for absolute detector efficiency values obtained from 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K radioisotopes. Our findings indicate that the obtained absolute detector efficiency values are quite close to used experimental values. Finally, we used the modelled detector for determination of mass attenuation coefficients of Ordinary concrete, Lead, Hematite-serpentine concrete, and Steel-scrap concrete at 186.1, 295.22, 351.93, 609.31, 1120.29, 1764.49, 238.63, 911.2, 2614, and 1460.83 keV gamma-ray energies. Additionally, according to our findings, mass attenuation coefficients obtained from the newly designed detector are compatible with the standard NIST (XCOM) data. To conclude, continuous optimisation procedures are strongly suggested for sophisticated Monte Carlo simulations in order to maintain a high degree of simulation reliability. As a result, it can be concluded that the validation of the simulation model is necessary using measured data. Finally, it can also be concluded that the validated detector models are effective instruments for obtaining basic gamma-ray shielding parameters such as mass attenuation coefficients.

Accuracy of Phy-X/PSD Software Compared to XCOM in the Determination of Mass Attenuation Coefficient of Glass Systems

Phy-X/PSD and XCOM are two software programs used for computations in radiation shielding and nuclear energy research. This study aims to compare the accuracy of Phy-X/PSD with that of XCOM in the determination of mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) of glass systems. The MAC values of 60B2O3-(40-x)BaO-xBi2O3, 50BaO-xBi2O3-(50-x)borosilicate glasses, and xTeO2-(70-x)ZnF2-25AsO3-5Sm2O3 glass systems at 0.662 MeV, 1.172 MeV and 1.332 MeV were determined using Phy-X/PSD. The mean absolute error (MAE) was determined and compared with MAE from experimental data and from XCOM. The results showed no significant difference between the MAC means obtained from the three data sets. However, single factor ANOVA test shows that the p-values for the MAC means are 0.344, 0.918 and 0.239 approximated to 3 d.p at 0.662 MeV, 1.172 MeV, and 1.332 MeV respectively and the variance was highest in the experimental result, followed by Phy-X/PSD, and least in the XCOM results. It could be concluded that both software programs can be used for radiation shielding computations, although result from Phy-X/PSD may have relatively more outliers compared to XCOM.

Spectroscopic and radiation shielding features of Nemrut, Pasinler, Sarıkamıs and Ikizdere obsidians in Turkey: Experimental and theoretical study

Naturally occurring volcanic glassy rocks, obsidians, are widely used for medical tools and have great interests in alternative medicine, auxiliary therapy, spa, cosmetics and jewellery fields. In this paper, we studied the spectroscopic and radiation shielding properties of obsidian samples collected from four main volcanic regions, named as Nemrut Mountain, Erzurum-Pasinler, Kars-Sarıkamış and Rize-Ikizdere, eastern Turkey. In this regard, important and effective spectroscopic techniques; Electron paramagnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy, Energy dispersive spectroscopy and Scanning electron microscopy were used to give information about structural, magnetic and morphological features of the obsidians. Additionaly, radiation shielding potentials of the obsidians were evaluated by determination of mass attenuation coefficients, effective atomic numbers, and buildup factors. Recently developed EpiXS code was used for obtaining radiation shielding parameters. It is concluded that the studied obsidians can be considered as radiation shielding materials. By this comprehensive study, both spectroscopic and shielding properties of obsidian samples from different volcanic regions in Turkey are presented and compared.

13-93B3 Bioactive glasses containing Ce3+, Ga3+ and V5+: dose rate and gamma radiation characteristic for medical purposes

In this study, dose rates and radiation attenuation features of a group of fabricated bioactive glasses were investigated. The borate-based 13-93B3 bioactive glass powders (B3) containing cerium (III), gallium (III) or vanadium (IV) were prepared by melting a homogenized mixture of reagent-grade CaCO3, Na2CO3, MgCO3, K2CO3, H3BO3, CaHPO4.2H2O, Ga2O3, V2O5 or Ce(CH3CO2)3, and disc-shaped scaffolds were prepared by die pressing. Bioactive glasses were modelled by using MCNPX (version 2.7.0) general-purpose Monte Carlo code. A gamma-ray transmission set-up was utilized for determination of mass attenuation coefficients. The obtained coefficients were used for determination of other essential attenuation properties. Finally, exposure (EBF) and energy absorption (EABF) build-up factors were determined. Although the chemical structure of the additive material in bioactive glasses is identical, it can be inferred that the chemical structure of the additive is closely linked to the radiation attenuation characteristics of the bioactive glasses. Results also revealed that, although the bulk densities of the disc-shaped bioactive glass samples were lower than the measured true density values of the melt-derived glass powders due to porosity concerns, they exhibited radiation shielding effect. Findings of the study may be useful in understanding the radiation shielding characteristics of the bioactive glass scaffolds fabricated by powder processing. It can be concluded that outcomes of recent investigation can be useful during the evaluation of potential interactions between the bioactive glasses and medical radiation in the body.

Determination of moisture content and density of silver oak (Grevillea robusta) and Mango (Mangifera indica) wood using gamma radiation

Due to the availability and particular features, wood is one of the first materials used by mankind with a wide variety of applications. Changes in moisture content lead to changes of virtually all physical and mechanical properties (e.g. shrinkage or swelling, strength and stiffness properties) of wood. The present study deals with the determination of mass attenuation coefficient of silver oak (Grevillea robusta) and mango (Mangifera indica) wood samples as it varies across material thickness and at varying moisture levels using gamma ray transmission method. NaI(Tl) scintillation detector and a radioactive source 137Cs of energy 0.662 MeV and having strength of 1.0 microcurie were used. Wood samples were placed in an oven for fixed durations to vary moisture levels. The attenuation varies with decreasing moisture content i.e., the mass attenuation coefficient was minimum for completely wet state and maximum for oven dry state of the samples. Wood density is also a vital parameter giving knowledge about anatomical and physical properties of wood. Wood densities were also measured for these wood samples by using conventional, oven dry and nuclear method. Owing to the fact that the shielding capacity of wood samples can also be determined easily, wood of sliver oak and mango can be used as shielding material from radiation.

Determination of Mass Attenuation Coefficient for some Technetium‐99m Compounds

AbstractMass attenuation is a measure of the average number of interaction between incident photons and the matter that occur in a given mass per unit area thickness of the substance. Hence, the importance of mass attenuation coefficient is found in different fields viz., radiation shielding, medical fields, aeronautical engineering, photon transport, space research, military, security checking purposes (most important now‐a‐days), and research and development, etc. Hence, in view of the above applications this mass attenuation coefficient is estimated by WinXCom program which is the successor of program Xcom for the technetium‐99m compounds such as mebrofenin, disofenin, lidofenin, bisicate, and exametazime for the photon energy range from 8 to 32 keV.

A journey for exploration of Eu2O3 reinforcement effect on zinc-borate glasses: Synthesis, optical, physical and nuclear radiation shielding properties

In this study, a series of the zinc-borate glasses with a nominal composition of (100-x)-(60ZnO·40B2O3)-xEu2O3 (where x = 0,1,2,3 mol%) were successfully synthesized. To characterize the direct impact of Eu2O3 additive on optical, physical and nuclear radiation shielding properties of zinc-borate glasses, different types of experimental methods for physical and optical investigation were implemented. MCNPX (version 2.6.0) was implemented for determination of mass attenuation coefficients of fabricated glasses. The first impact of Eu2O3 additive has been obtained in density and molar volume variations. The experimental analyses showed that both values tended to increase from 3.672 gmol-1 to 3.972 gmol-1 regularly and almost linearly. On other hand, optical band gaps obtained from Tauc plots drawn accordingly decreased from 4.474 eV (ZB) to 3.368 eV (ZBEu3) in respect to Eu2O3 concentration. maximum nuclear shielding competence has been provided with maximum Eu2O3 concentration in the glass. The increasing Eu2O3 reinforcement has directly affected the glass behaviors against gamma-ray, fast neutrons and heavy charged particles such as alpha and proton. Among fabricated zinc-borate glasses, superior material features were observed for ZBEu3 sample with 3% mol Eu2O3 concentration.

Physical and nuclear shielding properties of newly synthesized magnesium oxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles

Magnesium oxide (MgO) and Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) have been successfully synthesized by solid–solid reaction method. The structural properties of ZnO and MgO NPs were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XRD results indicated a formation of pure MgO and ZnO NPs. The mean diameter values of the agglomerated particles were around to be 70 and 50 nm for MgO and ZnO NPs, respectively using SEM analysis. Further, a wide-range of nuclear radiation shielding investigation for gamma-ray and fast neutrons have been studied for Magnesium oxide (MgO) and Zinc oxide (ZnO) samples. FLUKA and Microshield codes have been employed for the determination of mass attenuation coefficients (μm) and transmission factors (TF) of Magnesium oxide (MgO) and Zinc oxide (ZnO) samples. The calculated values for mass attenuation coefficients (μm) were utilized to determine other vital shielding properties against gamma-ray radiation. Moreover, the results showed that Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles with the lowest diameter value as 50 nm had a satisfactory capacity in nuclear radiation shielding.

A study on determination of mass attenuation coefficient, effective atomic number and electron density of some materials using Monte Carlo method

This work aims to calculate the effective atomic number and electron density by Monte Carlo method. In previous studies, the most widely used solution is to use the transmission method with the narrow gamma-ray beam. In the approach of this work, the gamma-ray beam after going through material is uncollimated to recording by NaI(Tl) detector. To do this, the inner diameter of detector collimator was enlarged with the aim of decreasing the strengthen of radioactive source. The obtained results were compared with NIST data and the experimental values which yield the maximum deviation of 9.05% and 3.43%, respectively. These results show the promising approach in determining the features of material.

Synthesis and nuclear radiation shielding characterization of newly developed germanium oxide and bismuth oxide glasses

We present the synthesis and nuclear radiation shielding characterization of glasses based on germanium and bismuth oxide prepared with the melt-quenching technique. The glasses were produced using six different compositions as follows (in wt%): 40.0GeO2-60.0PbO, 38.0GeO2-62.0Bi2O3, 31.344GeO2-41.900Bi2O3-26.756PbO, 33.334GeO2-33.333TeO2-33.333PbO, 20.6GeO2-41.9TeO2-17.4Nb2O5-20.1BaO, 41.98Bi2O3-48.26PbO-8.10Ga2O3-1.66BaO. Monte Carlo method (MCNPX code, v-2.6.0) has been utilized for the determination of mass attenuation coefficients (μ/ρ) of the synthesised six different glasses. The acquired mass attenuation coefficients (μ/ρ) have been used to determine the vital parameters for gamma-ray shielding namely half value layer (HVL), mean free path (MFP), tenth value layer (TVL), effective atomic number (Zeff), exposure buildup factor (EBF), energy absorption buildup factor (EABF), transmission factors (TF), respectively. Simultaneously, effective removal cross section (∑R) values for fast neutrons and Proton mass stopping power & proton projected range have been also calculated. The results showed that among all the investigated glasses, 41.98Bi2O3-48.26PbO-8.10Ga2O3-1.66BaO glass sample has the extra capability to reduce nuclear radiation as a shielding material.

Determination of Mass Attenuation Coefficients of High Strength Lightweight Concrete Which Producing Using Raw Perlite Aggregate

The development of technology increases the environmental pollution and radiological effects. In the present work, the radiation effects were determined experimentally, in the high strength lightweight concrete according to water /cement ratio . Also, the mass attenuation coefficients of the high strength lightweight concrete samples which producing with perlite aggregate were determined. The measurements were performed using a high-purity germanium detector. Ten different gamma rays energies were used. It is observed that the mass attenuation coefficients of the concrete samples are decreasing with the increasing photon energies. The concrete obtained with perlite aggregate can be used for protect from the radiation.water /cement ratio . Also, the mass attenuation coefficients of the high strength lightweight concrete samples which producing with perlite aggregate were determined. The measurements were performed using a high-purity germanium detector. Ten different gamma rays energies were used. It is observed that the mass attenuation coefficients of the concrete samples are decreasing with the increasing photon energies. The concrete obtained with perlite aggregate can be used for protect from the radiation.

The determination of mass attenuation coefficients through experimental and theoretical approaches using glass materials

The determination of mass attenuation coefficients through experimental and theoretical approaches using glass materials

Determination of Mass Attenuation Coefficients of Cement Paste Containing Ilmenite and Barite for γ-Rays

The gamma ray shielding properties of cement paste containing ilmenite and barite (BaSO4) at different concentration were investigated using beam transmission method for 59.5 keV gamma ray energy of 241Am radioactive isotopes by using NaI(Tl) scintillation detector. The mass attenuation coefficients (μm) of these shielding materials were calculated. It was found that the mass attenuation coefficients increase with increasing of ilmenite and barite content up to a value of 60% by weight. The highest value of μm was 0.425 ± 0.003 cm2/g for cement paste containing ilmenite and 1.598 ± 0.039 cm2/g for the cement paste containing barite. The mass attenuation coefficient values were compared between cement pasted containing ilmenite and barite. The result show that cement paste containing barite showed good gamma ray shielding performances than that for the cement paste containing ilmenite.

Self-attenuation corrections for Pb-210 in gamma-ray spectrometry using well and coaxial HPGe detectors

Semi-empirical methods for 210Pb self-attenuation corrections were applied to sediment samples in vial and cylindrical geometries, and were validated against Monte Carlo modelling. Full Monte Carlo modelling (GESPECOR code) of the Cutshall transmission method was successfully applied for the determination of mass attenuation coefficients and efficiency transfer factors for coaxial detectors, and compared with the values derived from the matrix chemical composition. Simplified approaches were recommended when dealing with large numbers of samples.

Determination of mass attenuation coefficients and effective atomic numbers for compounds of the 3d transition elements

Abstract In this study, we aimed to determine mass attenuation coefficient ( μ m ) and effective atomic number ( Z e f f ) for some compounds of the 3d transition elements such as CoO, CoF2, CoF3, Cr2O3, CrF2, CrF3, FeO, Fe2O3, MnO2, TiO2, V2O3, VF3, V2O5, VF4 and ZnO at 19.63 and 22.10 keV photon energies by using an HPGe detector with a resolution of 182 eV at 5.9 keV. The experimental results of μ m are compared with the theoretical results. Also, effective atomic numbers of compounds of the 3d transition elements have been determined by using experimental and theoretical mass attenuation coefficients. The agreement of measured values of effective atomic numbers with theoretical calculations is quite satisfactory.

Determination of mass attenuation coefficient by numerical absorption calibration with Monte-Carlo simulations at 59.54 keV

This study presents a numerical method in order to determine the mass attenuation coefficient of a sample with an unknown chemical composition at low energy. It is compared with two experimental methods: a graphic method and a transmission method. The method proposes to realise a numerical absorption calibration curve to process experimental results. Demineralised water with known mass attenuation coefficient (0.2066cm2g−1 at 59.54keV) is chosen to confirm the method. 0.1964±0.0350cm2g−1 is the average value determined by the numerical method, that is to say less than 5% relative deviation compared to more than 47% for the experimental methods.

Theoretical and experimental determination of mass attenuation coefficients of lead-based ceramics and their comparison with simulation

Mass attenuation coefficient of lead-based ceramics have been measured by experimental methods and compared with theoretical and Monte Carlo simulation results. Lead-based ceramics were prepared using mixed oxide method and the X-ray diffraction analysis was done to evaluate the crystal structure of the produced handmade ceramics. The experimental results show good agreement with theoretical and simulation results. However at two gamma ray energies, small differences between experimental and theoretical results have been observed. By adding other additives to ceramics and observing the changes in the shielding properties such as flexibility, one can synthesize and optimize ceramics as a neutron shield.

Determination of mass attenuation coefficient for some polymers using Monte Carlo simulation

Mass attenuation coefficient, μ/ρ for some polymers with potential applications in dosimetry, and medical physics has been calculated using Monte Carlo simulation code, MCNP-4C at different gamma ray energies, 59.5, 279.1, 511, 661.6, 662, 1115.5, 1173, 1173.2, 1274.5 and 1332.5 keV. Appreciable variations were noted for mass attenuation coefficients for the polymers by changing the photon energy. The simulated μ/ρ values were compared with possible available experimental data and theoretical XCOM results, and good agreement was observed. Present study indicates that simulation geometry method is suitable to be used as an alternative method for the experiments. The present geometry can be used as standard geometry for MCNP simulation for low-Z materials. The calculated μ/ρ values using MCNP-4C code signify that the simulation geometry method can be followed to determine the gamma ray attenuation coefficients for the polymers for which there are no experimental values available.

Determination of mass attenuation coefficient of low-Z dosimetric materials

The mass attenuation coefficients of some low-Z dosimetric materials with potential applications in dosimetry, medical and radiation protection have been investigated using the Monte Carlo simulation code Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP). Appreciable variations are noted for the mass attenuation coefficient by changing the photon energy. The MCNP-simulated parameters are compared with the experimental data wherever possible and theoretical values through the WinXcom program. The simulated results obtained by MCNP generally agree well with the experiment and WinXcom predictions for various low-Z dosimetric and tissue substitute materials. In addition, the mass attenuation coefficients around the k-edges for low-Z dosimetric materials estimated from the MCNP code agree very well with WinXcom prediction. Finally, the results indicate that this simulation process can be followed to determine the interaction parameters of gamma rays in such low-Z materials for which there are no satisfactory experimental values available.