Linear Attenuation Coefficient Values Research Articles

CoCrFeNiSi high entropy alloy: Synthesis, structural and radiation shielding properties

High entropy alloys (HEAs) have emerged as a distinct class of alloys with unique design strategies, different from traditional alloys. These alloys hold great promise for diverse applications, and the investigation of their nuclear radiation shielding properties has become an important and emerging area of research. In this experimental study, an equimolar CoCrFeNiSi HEA was prepared using the ball milling method. The focus was on characterizing the crystalline structure, morphological features, and radiation shielding properties of the synthesized HEA. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the HEA exhibited a face-centered cubic (FCC) phase structure. The crystallite size was significantly reduced from 23.63 nm to 3.22 nm, indicating the refinement of the microstructure. The homogeneity of the alloy was confirmed through scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), which showed that the five elements were uniformly distributed within the powder alloy. To evaluate the radiation shielding properties, linear attenuation coefficients (LAC) of the CoCrFeNiSi HEA powder were measured using a 662 keV gamma source and a NaI(Tl) detector system (ORTEC® 905–4). The experimental LAC values were determined to be 0.2140 ± 0.01 cm⁻1. Theoretical calculations using MCNP6.2 and XCOM code were also performed and showed good agreement with the experimental results. Comparing the CoCrFeNiSi HEA with common shield materials such as thin films, glass systems, and some composites, it was found that the HEA outperformed them in terms of radiation shielding effectiveness. This demonstrates the potential of the CoCrFeNiSi HEA as an advanced alternative to conventional shielding materials, with potential applications in various fields.

Investigations on physical, structural, elastic, optical and radiation shielding properties of calcium phospho-silicate glasses

Exploration of reinforcing alkaline oxide modifiers into the nominal composition of 40P2O5+(30‒X)CaO+XMgO+9SiO2+6Sr2F+6LiF+6BaF+2.5Ce2O3+0.5Sm2O3 (where X= 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 in wt%) has been performed. Oxides from the same alkaline group (CaO and MgO) have been chosen as a modifier. Glasses were made through the customary melt-quench technique. Successful glass formation was confirmed by XRD and functional group and compositional analysis via FTIR. Electronic structures of the proposed poly-component glasses are visualized by absorption spectra in the three prominent regions of the (electromagnetic) EM spectrum. Auxiliary physical, structural, and elastic properties were scrutinized for the approval of glasses as an obedient shielding material and evaluation of some other attenuating factors of EM wave by poly-component glasses in the gamma-ray region. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) was reported in the energy range of 0.284–1.333 MeV. The LAC results demonstrated that the interaction of the photons with the prepared specimens is high at lower photon energies and the shielding provided by the samples is relatively high when the energy level is low. The addition of MgO results in an improvement in the LAC values, and as a consequence, PS0Mg and PS25Mg had the lowest and highest LAC, respectively. The highest transmission factor values were reported for a thickness of 0.3 cm and equal to 0.87 at 0.284 MeV, 0.91 at 0.551 MeV, and 0.93 at 0.826 MeV (this is for PS0Mg sample).

Radiation transmittance of aluminum/silicon matrix functionally graded hybrid composites reinforced with B4C/TiO2

Radiation transmittance properties of the functionally graded hybrid composite material with B4C + TiO2 at various proportions were analyzed using the Phy-x/PSD software. The parameters of mass attenuation coefficient and linear attenuation coefficient, tenth-value layer and half-value layer, mean free path, effective atomic number, exposure building factor, electron density, fast neutron removal cross-section, and effective conductivity were examined. Due to the increase in the proportion of reinforcing addition in functionally graded hybrid composite material, the tenth-value layer decreased while the linear attenuation coefficient value increased. The functionally graded hybrid composite material composite material (25% B4C + 25% TiO2) was found to have the best shielding properties against gamma rays and neutrons. Therefore, this material was considered suitable for new-generation uses for neutron and gamma shielding.

Comprehensive study of the radiation shielding feature of polyester polymers impregnated with iron filings

Abstract Radiation and nuclear technologies have side effects in addition to their important applications, so appropriate shields must be used to protect users and the public from high doses as a result of exposure to this radiation. In this work, the attenuation coefficients for polyester composites doped with waste iron filings (IFs) were studied. Six samples of different IF concentrations were manufactured, namely, Poly, Poly-IF20, Poly-IF30, Poly-IF40, Poly-IF50, and Poly-IF60 (where Poly-IF60 represents 40% polyester and 60% IF). We measured the attenuation factors using high purity germanium (HPGe)-detector along with three radioactive sources 241Am (emitting energy of 0.06 MeV), 137Cs (emitting energy of 0.662 MeV), and Co-60 (emitting energy of 1.173 and 1.333 MeV). We compared the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) obtained by theoretical (i.e., XCOM software) and experimental (i.e., HPGe-detector) approaches for the prepared polyester composites at various photon energies (0.060, 0.662, 1.173, and 1.333 MeV). The greatest difference between the LAC values of the samples occurs at 0.060 MeV, where the Poly-IF60 sample has a much greater LAC than the other shields, followed by the Poly-IF50 sample, Poly-IF40 sample, and so on until the pure polyester shield. Specifically, their values are equal to 0.245, 0.622, 0.873, 1.187, 1.591, and 2.129 cm−1 for Poly, Poly-IF20, Poly-IF30, Poly-IF40, Poly-IF50, and Poly-IF60, respectively. We calculated the transmission factor (TF) and the radiation shielding efficiency (RSE), and found that the TF for Poly-IF30 is equal to 28.82%, 77.94%, 82.75%, and 83.75% at 0.060, 0.662, 1.173, and 1.333, respectively, while its RSE is equal to 82.57%, 24.00%, 18.80%, and 17.72%, respectively. The fast neutron removal cross-section (FNRC) of the polyester samples was calculated and the values increase when more Ifs are added to the samples. More specifically, the FNRC values are equal to 0.095, 0.100, 0.103, 0.107, 0.110, and 0.113 cm−1 for Poly, Poly-IF20, Poly-IF30, Poly-IF40, Poly-IF50, and Poly-IF60, respectively.

Impact of WO3 and BaO nanoparticles on the radiation shielding characteristics of polydimethylsiloxane composites

Abstract In this study, we developed flexible composites using silicone rubber (SR) or polydimethylsiloxane as the matrix and WO3 and BaO nanoparticles as filler to analyze their radiation-shielding performance. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) values for the prepared composites were reported to range from 0.059 to 1.333 MeV by using the experimental method. At 0.059 MeV, the SR with 40% of BaO NPs possesses the highest LAC, followed by SR with 20% of BaO and WO3 NPs. The SRs S-2 and S-4 that contain WO3 and/or BaO exhibit continuously greater LAC values than the sample S-1. Numerically, the LAC for S-2 (with 40% of BaO NPs) is 1.6 times greater than that for S-1 (free BaO and WO3) at 0.662 MeV, while the LAC for S-2 is 1.47 times more than that for S-1 at 1.275 MeV. We examined the impact of the thickness of the prepared composites on the attenuation performance by studying the transmission factor (TF) at two different thicknesses (1 and 2 cm). For S-1 and S-2, the TF decreases due to the increase of the thickness from 1 to 2 cm. The TF for S-1 with a thickness of 1 cm is 75% at 0.059 MeV, while it is 56% (for 2 cm). We evaluated the percentage decrease in the TF at 0.059 MeV for every SR as the thickness changes from 1 to 2 cm. For S-3, S-4, S-5, and S-6, the percentage decrease in the TF is extremely significant varying from 98% to 99%. This suggests that increasing the thickness of these SR samples from 1 to 2 cm has a major effect on the shielding capabilities they possess, particularly at low energies.

Utilization of titanium slag in cement grout for gamma radiation shielding: hydration, microstructure, mechanical properties and gamma-ray attenuation performance

The utilization of industrial waste materials for civil engineering structures has received massive attention in recent decades. In this work, the feasibility of using titanium slag to enhance the radiation attenuation properties of cementitious grout at the ages of 3 days and 2 years was studied. Titanium slag (TS) was incorporated as cement grout replacement at 0%, 10% 20% and 30%. Hardened blocks in dimension of 146×146×30mm were fabricated. The porosity of titanium slag was characterized while the phases in the raw materials as well as the fabricated grout were identified. The influence of the titanium slag addition on the grout hydration kinetics, density, compressive strength and porosity of hardened grouts was evaluated. The results show a decrease in density with the increase of titanium slag content as well as a decrease in compressive strength at curing ages of 3, 7 and 28 days. The slag also refined the microstructure, leading to a reduction in average pore diameter. Furthermore, the hardened blocks were subject to gamma-ray sources such as 137Cs (0.662 MeV) and 60Co (1.173 and 1.332 MeV) and the Linear Attenuation Coefficient (LAC) and Half Value Layer (HVL) were evaluated. The results show that increasing curing age improves the shielding performance of the composite. At 30% replacement, the LAC improvement of the samples exposed to Co sources (1.173 and 1.332 MeV) at 3 days was 11.7% and 12.8% respectively while at 2 years, 9.9% and 9.8% improvement was obtained. Reduced HVL is obtained for an increase in replacement percentage and increased curing age. Therefore, this gives an indication of the possibility of developing low-density radiation shielding cement-based materials.

Experimental Study on the Radiation Shielding Performance of B2O3-SiO2-TeO2-Bi2O3-ZnO-BaO Glass Systems Containing Europium (III) Oxide

The radiation shielding abilities of Europium Oxide doped Bismuth Tellurium Barium Zinc Borosilicate glasses were investigated in this study. Five glass samples, denoted as BiTeEu-0, BiTeEu-1, BiTeEu-2, BiTeEu-3, and BiTeEu-4, were assessed to determine their effectiveness in shielding against incident photon energies of 356, 662, 1173, and 1332 KeV. The glass composition was 12B2O3–16SiO2-xEu2O3-(40-x)TeO2−12Bi2O3−12ZnO-8BaO, where x ranged from 0 to 4 mol%. In order to assess the effectiveness of the prepared glass systems as radiation shields, several numerical parameters were experimentally measured. These parameters included the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) and other relevant factors. In order to validate the experimental setup, the LAC values were determined theoretically using WinXCOM software. This provided an opportunity to compare the experimental results with the theoretical values, allowing for the accuracy of the measurements to be assessed. The theoretical and experimental LAC values were identical, indicating the reliability of the experimental setup. A declining trend was found for the value of mean free path (MFP) as - BiTeEu-0 (0 mol% Eu2O3) > BiTeEu-1 (1 mol% Eu2O3) > BiTeEu-2 (2 mol% Eu2O3) > BiTeEu-3 (3 mol% Eu2O3) > BiTeEu-4 (4 mol% Eu2O3) from energy 0.06 MeV to 1.332 MeV. Results showed that the incorporation of higher amounts of Eu2O3 into the current glass systems resulted in a reduction in the value of half value layer (HVL) and mean free path (MFP), but an increase in the radiation protection efficiency. The study found that among the researched glass samples, the sample BiTeEu-4 [12B2O3−16SiO2−4Eu2O3−36TeO2−12Bi2O3−12ZnO-8BaO] provided the best radiation protection efficiency from 0.06 MeV to 1.33 MeV energy range.

Effect of dysprosium on the radiation-shielding features of SiO2–PbO–B2O3 glasses

Abstract In a variety of applications using ionizing radiation, it is essential to ensure the safety of both individuals and equipment. To this end, excellent radiation shielding materials, including glasses and rare earth elements, such as Dy2O3, are currently being researched. The goal of this study is to explore the effect of Dy2O3 on the radiation-shielding properties of the SiO2–PbO–B2O3–Dy2O3 glass system; for clarity, it is abbreviated as Dy-X. Dy2O3 is a good choice for use as a modifier in radiation shielding glasses since it has high density. Additionally, Dy2O3 has good thermal stability and can be added to glass matrices without substantially affecting their physical features. The influence of increasing the amount of Dy2O3 present in the glasses from 0 to 5 mol% on the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) and effective atomic number (Z eff) was studied using glasses with five distinct compositions and densities. In order to achieve this, the Phy-X program was utilized. The results demonstrate that Dy5 (with a composition of 55B2O3–25PbO–20SiO2–5Dy2O3) has the highest LAC value of the prepared glasses, while Dy0 has the lowest. We investigated the influence of Dy2O3 on Z eff at 0.284 MeV. The results show that the Z eff values increase with increasing Dy2O3 content. The Z eff values were found to be 27.35, 27.94, 28.52, 29.09, 29.65, and 30.20 for Dy0, Dy1, Dy2, Dy3, Dy4, and Dy5, respectively. From the Z eff results, we observed that increasing the Dy2O3 content in the samples leads to an improvement in the shielding ability of the glass system. We compared the LAC of the Dy-X glasses with six glass systems at 0.662 MeV. All Dy0–Dy3 glasses have lower LAC values than all the TeO2–Li2O–ZnO glasses, but Dy4 has an LAC value greater than those of three of these glasses.

Effects of WO3 reinforcement on the properties of poly(lactic acid) composites for radiation shielding

During this work, efforts have been made to improve the gamma radiation shielding capabilities of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) by including tungsten trioxide (WO3). Simulations and theoretical analyses have been performed on the parameters of radiation shielding. They have been tested across a broad spectrum of energies, from 0.015 to 15 MeV. The values suggest that naturally occurring composites with a high WO3 content may be utilized to improve the gamma shielding properties of PLA/TO (TO ≡ tungsten trioxide) composites for protection applications; such composites can be employed as a covering for the solar cells to prevent damage. The composite samples made of PLA and WO3 were analyzed for a range of photon energies. The results showed rise of considerable proportions in the values of linear attenuation coefficient (μ) and mass attenuation coefficient μm at 0.08 MeV, due to the k-absorption edge of tungsten. In addition, μ and μm for all samples at selected photon energy are increase as the WO3 content increases and decreases with increasing photon energy. The half value layer (T0.5) decreased as the WO3 content increased, with the highest values seen at 15 MeV and the lowest values at 15 keV. The behavior of the mean free path (λ) was identical to T0.5 with regards to the amount of WO3 and the energy of the photon. The T0.5 values of the PLA-W7 were lower than other polymer materials, making it a more efficient material for filtering radiation. The Zeff values of the PLA/TO composite samples were the highest at 0.08 MeV and showed a trend of increasing with energy to 15 MeV. The exposure buildup factor (EBF) and energy absorption buildup factor EABF values were computed using the G-P fitting method and showed that the lowest values were presented for the PLA-W7. An increase in WO3 reinforcement in the PLA sample contributed to the decreased EBF-EABF values. The shielding parameters were determined through calculations done using both Phy-X/PSD and FLUKA, and the results from both are in good agreement with each other. The results of the study demonstrate the effectiveness of PLA-W7 as a material for radiation shielding.

Experimental study on the radiation protecting ability of composites containing barium titanate and nanospinel ferrite

The search for new, non-toxic, and effective alternatives for radiation protection to lead-based materials is highly demanded in the present era. In the present research, a series of ceramic composites of barium titanate (BaTiO3, BTO) added with different amounts (x = 0, 5, 10, and 20 wt%) of nano spinel ferrite (Co0.8Ni0.1Mn0.1Fe1.9Ce0.1O4; NSF) were fabricated to evaluate their shielding performance against gamma radiation. The different samples were subjected to photons with energy ranging from 0.060 to 1.333 MeV emitted from Co-60, Cs-137, and Am-241-point sources, and the intensity of photons was detected using the HPGe detector. The prepared ceramics were first characterized by the XRD diffraction technique to examine the phase and crystal structure. The analysis showed the successful formation of the desired composites. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) values were determined experimentally to test the shielding performance of the composites. The LAC achieves its maximum values at an energy level of 0.06 MeV (31.88, 31.98, and 32.12 cm−1 for the composites with x = 5, 10, and 20 wt%, respectively, then it decreases at 0.662 MeV to 0.459, 0.461, and 0.465 cm−1 for the same mentioned compositions. LAC results showed that the current ceramics have a reasonably strong attenuation efficiency at low energy and can block many photons. The highest radiation protection efficiency (RPE) has occurred at 0.06 MeV and it is in the order of 95%. The RPE of the composite with x = 20 wt% is slightly greater than the RPE of the other ceramic samples. The half-value layer (HVL) data demonstrated that the shielding efficiency is related to the composition of the material, where the composite with x = 20 wt% showed a lower HVL than the other composites.

Impact of Growth Temperature of Lead-Oxide Nanostructures on the Attenuation of Gamma Radiation.

Chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique is utilized to grow lead-oxide (PbO) nanostructures (NSs) over PbO seed fabricated by physical vapor deposition (PVD) method on glass substrates. The effect of growth temperatures 50 and 70 °C on the surface topography, optical properties, and crystal structure of lead-oxide NSs has been studied. The investigated results suggested that the growth temperature has a huge and very considerable influence on the PbO NS, and the fabricated PbO NS has been indexed as the Pb3O4 polycrystalline tetragonal phase. The crystal size for PbO thin films grown at 50 °C was 85.688 nm and increased to 96.61 nm once the growth temperature reached 70 °C. The fabricated PbO nanofilms show a high rate of transmittance, which are ∼70 and 75% in the visible spectrum for the films deposited at 50 and 70 °C, respectively. The obtained Eg was in the range of 2.099-2.288 eV. Also, the linear attenuation coefficient values of gamma-rays for shielding the Cs-137 radioactive source increased at 50 °C. The transmission factor, mean free path, and half-value layer are reduced at a higher attenuation coefficient of PbO grown at 50 °C. This study evaluates the relationship between synthesized lead-oxide NSs and the radiation energy attenuation of gamma-rays. This study provided a suitable, novel, and flexible protective shield of clothes or an apron made of lead or lead oxide to protect against ionizing radiation that meets safety rules and protects medical workers from ionizing radiation.

Preparation and study of radiation shielding features of ZnO nanoparticle reinforced borate glasses

With the development of technology, the application areas of radiation have expanded and have an important place in our daily life. For this reason, we need more advanced and effective shielding materials to protect lives from the harmful effects of radiation. In this study, a simple combustion method was utilized to synthesize zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles, and obtained nanoparticles' structural and morphological features were examined. The synthesized ZnO particles are used to produce different percentages (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10%) of ZnO-doped glass samples. The structural and radiation shielding parameters of obtained glasses are examined. For this purpose, the Linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) has been measured via 65Zn and 60Co gamma sources and NaI(Tl) (ORTEC® 905–4) detector system has been used. Using the obtained LAC values, Mass Attenuation Coefficient (MAC), Half-Value Layer (HVL), Tenth-Value Layers (TVL), and Mean-Free Path (MFP) for glass samples have been calculated. According to these radiation shielding parameters, it was concluded that these ZnO doped glass samples provide effective results in radiation shielding and can be used as a shielding material effectively.

The affinity of bentonite and WO3 nanoparticles toward epoxy resin polymer for radiation shielding

Abstract A thorough comparative analysis was conducted between pure epoxy and a novel epoxy composite that included bentonite and WO3 nanoparticles in varying ratios. This study examined five distinct novel epoxy samples (E00, EB0, EBW1, EBW2, and EBW3) to assess their radiation shielding efficiency (RSE), taking into account the addition of bentonite and WO3 nanoparticles. Furthermore, the study compared the RSE of pure epoxy with that of the novel epoxy composite. To evaluate the radiation shielding ability of the studied epoxy samples, a few radiation shielding parameters such as linear attenuation coefficient (LAC), mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), mean free path (MFP), RSE, and transition factor (I/I 0) were calculated. The RSE values of the epoxy samples were E00 (63.41%), EB0 (87.17%), EBW1 (98.26%), EBW2 (99.82%), and EBW3 (99.99%) at an energy of 0.06 MeV with 4 cm thickness. With the increase in the incident energy, the half-value layer and MFP values were increased, whereas the LAC and MAC values decreased. In conclusion, it can be stated that the sample EBW3 is more suitable among the five epoxy samples studied for attenuating the incident photon energy from 0.06 to 1.33 MeV. Noteworthily, the obtained results demonstrate that the addition of WO3 nanoparticles enhances the shielding ability of epoxy when compared to the addition of the same amount of bentonite.

Determination of Gamma Radiation Shielding Characteristics for Some Iron-Based Metallic Glasses

In this study, the gamma radiation shielding characteristics of metallic glasses having Fe81B13.5Si3.5C2, Fe79B16Si5, Fe78B13Si9 and Fe40Ni38B18Mo4 components and coded as FeBSiC, FeBSi1, FeBSi2 and FeNiBMo were investigated. In order to investigate, the mass attenuation coefficients for metallic glasses in the photon energies range of 0.060 to 2.614 MeV were calculated with the help of WinXCOM program and GEANT4 and FLUKA simulation codes. The linear attenuation coefficient, half and tenth value layers, mean free path, effective atomic number and electron density parameters were calculated with the help of the calculated mass attenuation coefficients. Variations of the calculated gamma radiation shielding parameters with photon energy were discussed. It was observed that mass and linear attenuation coefficients, effective atomic number and electron density parameters decreased with increasing photon energy, while half and tenth value layers and mean free path parameters increased with increasing photon energy. It has been observed that metallic glasses have better gamma shielding capabilities in the low photon energy region, and metallic glass coded as FeNiBMo has better gamma radiation shielding capacity than other studied metallic glasses.

Study nuclear radiation shielding, mechanical and Acoustical properties of TeO2-Na2O-BaO-TiO2 alloyed glasses

In this paper radiation shielding characteristics of tellurium glasses materials for radiation protection have been studied. The effect of different TiO2 contents in 75TeO2-Na2O-(20-x) BaO-xTiO2 (x = 0, 5, 10 and 15) glass samples are investigated on the shielding behavior, acoustic and physical parameters. However, some structural properties such as Molar Volume, Oxygen Molar Volume and Oxygen Packing Density are studied by using the Phy-X/PSD program and Monte Carlo simulations (with GEANT4 and MCNPX2.6.0 codes) in the photon energies of 0.284, 0.347, 0.511, 0.662, 0.826, and 1.173 MeV. The total trends of calculated LAC values in all four alloy glasses show that they are inversely proportional to the photon energy. It shows the abnormal behavior of Linear Attenuation Coefficient value at one point in low energies (sudden leapfrog peak between 0.3 MeV and 0.4 MeV) are shown by derived results by PhyX/PSD and GEANT4, which can be described by tellurium k-edge (in about 0.032 MeV). Finally, it can be informed that by increasing photon energy TNB-Ti15 sample has the best quality in radiation properties and a good choice for radiation protecting in various purposes such as medicine fields.

Grafting of heavy metal oxides onto pure polyester for the interest of enhancing radiation shielding performance

Abstract In the interest of obtaining new polyester, heavy metal oxides PbCO3, Bi2O3, and CdO with numerous ratios have been added to the polyester resin. Five samples of labeled PR-1, PR-2, PR-3, PR-4, and PR-5 were prepared for this study. The values of linear attenuation coefficients (LAC) of the new polyester samples were measured using an HPGe detector. In the interest of ensuring the experimental setup, the value of LAC obtained from the HPGe detector as well as the value of LAC calculated using Phy-X software, have both been placed in one graph, which revealed a consistent result. The experimental value of those new polyester samples has been measured within the energy region 0.06–1.332 MeV, whereas the theoretical values have been calculated within the energy limit of 0.015–15 MeV. The results of all the new polyester samples showed an uplifting trend according to the rising energy at 0.06, 0.66, 1.17, and 1.33 MeV. At energy 0.06 MeV, sample PR-5 (ρ = 2.180 g/cm3) showed the lowest half value layer (HVL) among the polyester samples. This result is due to the addition of Bi2O3 and CdO into the samples’ composition, increasing their density and enhancing the polyester’s reduction ability. Considering the measured shielding parameters studied herein, it has been found that sample PR-5 (50 wt% Polymer resin, 25 wt% Bi2O3, 25 wt% CdO) had the highest shielding ability compared with the rest of the polyester samples.

Synthesis of glass powders for radiation shielding applications based on zirconium minerals' leach liquor

The present study aims to avoid contaminating the environment with some chemical compounds produced as a washing product after zirconium mineral digestion. Then, using the Na2SiO2 obtained from the digestion process and other chemicals, two useful composites were created. These composites are glass powders doped by less than 12% Lead dinitrate (Pb(NO₃)₂). The structure and elemental chemical composition of the fabricated composites were investigated using the XRD diffractometer and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The γ-photon shielding capacity of the synthesis's composites was simulated using the Monte Carlo simulation code. According to the findings of the simulation, at a -ray energy of 0.033 MeV, the linear attenuation coefficient is 8.81 and 5.55 cm−1 for the synthesized composite materials with Pb concentration of 7.59 and 11.65 wt%. Additionally, the linear attenuation coefficient values at 1408 MeV for the synthesized composite materials were reduced to 0.142 cm−1 and 0.123 cm−1.

Experimental assessment for the photon shielding features of silicone rubber reinforced by tellurium borate oxides

In the present study, six silicone rubber doped by tellurium borate oxides were fabricated using the casting method. The densities of the fabricated silicon rubber-doped by tellurium borate oxides samples were measured using the Archimedes Method. Moreover, the linear attenuation coefficient of silicone rubber doped tellurium borate oxides samples was evaluated experimentally using the hyper pure germanium, and the recorded linear attenuation coefficient values were affirmed using the theoretical Phy-X program. The experimental measurements were performed using the narrow beam transmission method with radioactive isotopes Am-241, Cs-137, and Co-60 with energies of 59, 661, 1173, and 1332 keV. The linear attenuation coefficient values showed an enhancement by 4.73 times, 1.20 time, 1.17, time, and 1.17 time, respectively at gamma photon energies of 59, 661, 1173, and 1332 keV, when the TeO2 concentration increased in the fabricated composites from 0 to 50 wt%. The enhancement of the linear attenuation coefficient values has a positive effect on the transmission rate values where the half-value thickness and transmission rate were decreased accompanied by an increase in the RPE.

Synthesis, structure, radiation attenuation efficacy as well as prediction of density using artificial intelligence techniques of lead borate lithium zinc strontium glasses

Glass systems (6-glasses) of chemical formula (60-x)B2O3-10Li2O-20ZnO-10PbO-xSrO: 0 (Sr-0) ≤ x ≤ 25 (Sr-25) mol% have been manufactured. Density was measured experimentally and predicted via artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques. As well as radiation attenuation efficacy has been evaluated. Experimentally, density was varied from 3.2824 ± 0.0001 to 3.8717 ± 0.0001 g/cm3. Sample densities were predicated via the artificial neural network (ANN), Tanh and sigmoid activation functions showed the best density prediction with a maximum R2 of highest 0.8900. The best density prediction was also obtained by the random forest regression (RFR) model with R2 = 0.920 which is observed to be the highest compared to the polynomial. The sample encoded as Sr-25 had the greatest linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) values out of all the samples that were examined. The transmission factor (TF%) is simultaneously dependent on the samples' density and the energy of the incoming photons for example the sample of a density of 3.65 g/cm3 (Sr-15) and thickness of x = 1.0 cm. For instance, the TF values are 2.5%, 51.7%, 79.5%, 88.7%, 89.3%, 89.3%, and 88.9% for the energies 0.08, 0.3, 1.0, 5.0, 8.0, 10.0, and 15.0 MeV, respectively. In terms of the half value layer (HVL), the sample encoded as Sr-0 has the greatest value while the sample Sr-25 possessed the lowest HVL value among the studied glass mixtures.

Multi-Energy and Fast-Convergence Iterative Reconstruction Algorithm for Organic Material Identification Using X-ray Computed Tomography.

In order to significantly reduce the computing time while, at the same time, keeping the accuracy and precision when determining the local values of the density and effective atomic number necessary for identifying various organic material, including explosives and narcotics, a specialized multi-stage procedure based on a multi-energy computed tomography investigation within the 20-160 keV domain was elaborated. It consisted of a compensation for beam hardening and other non-linear effects that affect the energy dependency of the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) in the chosen energy domain, followed by a 3D fast reconstruction algorithm capable of reconstructing the local LAC values for 64 energy values from 19.8 to 158.4 keV, and, finally, the creation of a set of algorithms permitting the simultaneous determination of the density and effective atomic number of the investigated materials. This enabled determining both the density and effective atomic number of complex objects in approximately 24 s, with an accuracy and precision of less than 3%, which is a significantly better performance with respect to the reported literature values.