Fabrication of Lightweight and Low Cost Shields for Gamma Ray Attenuation

Films of biopolymer (PVA) doped with titanium nanoparticles (Ti NPs) have been prepared with several ratios of PVA and Ti NPs to apply for gamma ray shielding with low unit cost, flexible, lightweight, and high corrosion resistance. The prepared nanocomposites tested for gamma ray shielding. The experimental results showed the PVA/ Ti nanocomposites films have high coefficients of attenuation for gamma ray.

The interdiffusion in liquid alloys of alkali metals with lead

The mutual diffusion in liquid cesium-lead alloys containing from 20 to 70 at.% Pb is investigated by a gamma-ray attenuation technique. The obtained data are compared with the results of similar studies for Li-Pb, Na-Pb, and K-Pb melts, carried out by us earlier. The concentration dependences of the interdiffusion coefficient for alkali-lead liquid systems demonstrate pronounced maxima in the vicinity of 20 or 50 at.% Pb. These phenomena confirm a tendency for chemical short-range ordering in liquid alloys.

Assessment of Radiation Shielding Properties of Polymer-Lead (II) Oxide Composites

Long term exposure to very high levels of radiations from medical diagnostic centres, industries, nuclear research establishments and nuclear weapon development have resulted in health effects such as cancer and acute radiation syndrome, hence the need for proper radiation shielding. This paper investigated Epoxy-Lead (II) Oxide (PbO) composite as radiation shielding. The composites were prepared by dispersion of microsized PbO particles into polymeric materials using effective melt-mixing method and cast in a 4 cm by 6 cm rectangular aluminium Mold with a thickness of 5 mm and was allowed to set over night at room temperature. The gamma ray attenuation ability of the composites were studied using gamma ray transmission or attenuation coefficient determination for the gamma ray energy. Three gamma ray sources Ba-133, Cs-137 and Co-60 were employed. The density, linear attenuation coefficient, half value layer (HVL), relaxation length and heaviness of the samples were determined. The measured values of linear attenuation coefficient increased with increasing filler concentration in all the samples at all gamma ray energies. It was also noticed that 40 % and 50 % filler samples attenuates more relative to the other samples under study. The maximum linear attenuation attained was found at energy of 662 keV. The composites have been found to possessed medical gamma-ray attenuation characteristics among the sample materials over a certain photon energy range (0.08 MeV–1.332 MeV) and found useful as a biological radiation shielding against gamma rays.

Gamma-Ray Protection Properties of Bismuth-Silicate Glasses against Some Diagnostic Nuclear Medicine Radioisotopes: A Comprehensive Study

This study aimed to perform an investigation for the potential implementation of bismuth silicate glasses as novel shield equipment instead of ordinary shields in nuclear medicine facilities. Accordingly, a group of Bi2O3 reinforced silicate glass system were investigated and compared with ordinary shields in terms of their gamma-ray attenuation properties in diagnostic nuclear medicine radioisotope energies emitted from 99mTc, 111In, 67Ga, 123I, 131I, 81mKr, 201Tl, 133Xe. Mass attenuation coefficient (μm) results for glass samples were calculated comparatively with the XCOM program and MCNPX code. The gamma-ray attenuation parameters such as half value layer (HVL), tenth value layer (TVL), mean free path (MFP), effective atomic number (Zeff) were obtained in the diagnostic gamma ray energy range from 75 to 336 keV. To confirm the attenuation performance of superior sample, obtained results were extensively compared with ordinary shielding materials. According to the results obtained, BISI6 glass sample with the highest Bi2O3 additive has an excellent gamma-ray protection.

Gamma-Ray Attenuation and Exposure Buildup Factor of Novel Polymers in Shielding Using Geant4 Simulation

Polymers are often used in medical applications, therefore, some novel polymers and their interactions with photons have been studied. The gamma-ray shielding parameters for Polymethylpentene (PMP), Polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), Polyoxymethylene (POM), Polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF), and Polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE) polymers were determined using the Geant4 simulation and discussed in the current work. The mass attenuation coefficients (μ/ρ) were simulated at low and high energies between 0.059 and 1.408 MeV using different radionuclides. The accuracy of the Geant4 simulated results were checked with the XCOM software. The two different methods had good agreement with each other. Exposure buildup factor (EBF) was calculated and discussed in terms of polymers under study and photon energy. Effective atomic number (Zeff) and electron density (Neff) were calculated and analyzed at different energies. Additionally, the half-value layer (HVL) of the polymers was evaluated, and the results of this parameter showed that PCTFE had the highest probability of interaction with gamma photons compared to those of the other tested polymers.