A comparative neutron and gamma-ray radiation shielding investigation of molybdenum and boron filled polymer composites

H Oğul; O Agar; F Bulut; M R Kaçal; K Dilsiz; H Polat; F Akman

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110731

A comparative neutron and gamma-ray radiation shielding investigation of molybdenum and boron filled polymer composites

Appl Radiat Isot. 2023 Apr:194:110731. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110731. Epub 2023 Feb 18.

Authors

H Oğul¹, O Agar², F Bulut³, M R Kaçal⁴, K Dilsiz⁵, H Polat⁶, F Akman⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nuclear Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Sinop University, Sinop, Turkiye; Sinop University Energy Research and Application Center, Sinop, Turkiye. Electronic address: hogul@sinop.edu.tr.
² Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University, Department of Medical Imaging Techniques, 70100, Karaman, Turkiye.
³ Sinop University Energy Research and Application Center, Sinop, Turkiye; Scientific and Technological Research Applications and Research Center, Sinop University, Sinop, Turkiye.
⁴ Giresun University, Arts and Sciences Faculty, Department of Physics, 28100, Giresun, Turkiye.
⁵ Bingöl University, Faculty of Art and Science, Department of Physics, 12000, Bingöl, Turkiye.
⁶ Bingöl University, Vocational School of Technical Sciences, Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, 12000, Bingöl, Turkiye.
⁷ Bingöl University, Vocational School of Social Sciences, Department of Property Protection and Security, Program of Occupational Health and Safety, 12000, Bingöl, Turkiye.

PMID: 36812766
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110731

Abstract

This work presents a detailed radiation shielding study for polymer composites filled with Boron and Molybdenum additives. The chosen novel polymer composites were produced at different percentages of the additive materials to provide a proper evaluation of their neutron and gamma-ray attenuation abilities. The effect of additive particle size on the shielding characteristics was further investigated. On the gamma-ray side, simulation, theoretical and experimental evaluations were performed in a wide range of photon energies varying from 59.5 keV to 1332.5 keV with help of MC simulations (GEANT4 and FLUKA), WinXCOM code, a High Purity Germanium Detector, respectively. A remarkable consistency was reported between them. On the neutron shielding side, the prepared samples produced with nano and micron particle size additives were additionally examined by providing fast neutron removal cross-section (Σ_R) and the simulated neutron transmissions through the prepared samples. The samples filled with nano sized particles show better shielding capability than the one filled with micron sized particles. In other words, a new polymer shielding material that does not contain toxic content is introduced: the sample codded N-B0Mo50 exhibits superior radiation attenuation.

Keywords: Boron; Molybdenum; Polymer composite; Radiation shielding.