Morphological and Gamma-Ray Attenuation Properties of High-Density Polyethylene Containing Bismuth Oxide

Aljawhara H Almuqrin; Mohamed Elsafi; Sabina Yasmin; M I Sayyed

doi:10.3390/ma15186410

Morphological and Gamma-Ray Attenuation Properties of High-Density Polyethylene Containing Bismuth Oxide

Materials (Basel). 2022 Sep 15;15(18):6410. doi: 10.3390/ma15186410.

Authors

Aljawhara H Almuqrin¹, Mohamed Elsafi², Sabina Yasmin³, M I Sayyed⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia.
² Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21511, Egypt.
³ Department of Physics, Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, Chattogram 4349, Bangladesh.
⁴ Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Isra University, Amman 11622, Jordan.

Abstract

For extensive radiation exposure, inventing a novel radiation shielding material is a burning issue at present for the purpose of life saving. Considering this thought, in this study, by adding sundry amounts of Bi₂O₃ into pure high-density polyethylene (HDPE), six HDPE systems were prepared to evaluate the radiation shielding efficiency. These HDPE systems were HDPEBi-0 (pure HDPE), HDPEBi-10 (10 wt% Bi₂O₃), HDPEBi-20 (20 wt% Bi₂O_3-), HDPEBi-30 (30 wt% Bi₂O₃), HDPEBi-40 (40 wt% Bi₂O₃), and HDPEBi-50 (50 wt% Bi₂O₃). The values of the linear attenuation coefficients of the experimental results (calculated in the lab using HPGe) were compared with the theoretical results (obtained using Phy-X software) at 0.060, 0.662, 1.173, and 1.333 MeV energies. To ensure the accurateness of the experimental results, this comparison was made. It was crystal clear that for energy values from 0.06 MeV to 1.333 MeV, all the experimental values were in line with Phy-X software data, which demonstrated the research setup's reliability. Here, the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC), and mean free path (MFP) shielding parameters were assessed. At the energy of 1.333 MeV, sample HDPEBi-0 showed an HVL value 1.7 times greater than that of HDPEBi-50, yet it was 23 times greater at 0.0595 MeV. That means that for proper radiation protection, very-low-energy HDPE systems containing 10-50% Bi₂O₃ could be used; however, the thickness of the HDPE system must be increased according to the energy of incident radiation.

Keywords: Bi2O3; HDPE; effective atomic number; novel radiation shielding material.

Grants and funding

Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2022R2), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.