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The current work discusses the radiation attenuation capability and different shielding characteristics of different mortar samples. The samples were prepared by replacing different percentages of fine aggregate with iron filling and replacing different percentages of hydrated lime with Bi 2 O 3 (0-50 wt.%). The prepared mortar samples are coded as CHBFX where X = 0, 10, 30, and 50 wt.%. The mass and linear attenuation coefficient was determined experimentally using a narrow beam technique, where a high purity germanium detector, and different point gamma-ray sources (such as Am-241, Cs-137, and Co-60). The linear attenuation coefficient was also calculated using the Monte-Carlo simulation code and the online Phy-X/PSD software. The comparison of the three methods showed a good agreement in the results. The linear attenuation coefficient drops from 19.821 to 0.053 cm -1 for CHBF0, from 27.496 to 0.057 cm -1 for CHBF10, from 42.351 to 0.064 cm -1 for CHBF30, and from 55.068 to 0.071 cm -1 for CHBF50 at photon energy range from 0.015 to 15 MeV. The half-value layer thickness, tenth-value layer thickness, and mean free path of the prepared mortar composites were also calculated photon energy ranged from 0.015 to 15 MeV. The fast neutron removal cross-section of the prepared CHBFX mortar samples have values of 0.096 cm -1 , 0.098 cm -1 , 0.103 cm -1 , and 0.107 cm -1 for the mortar samples CHBF0, CHBF10, CHBF30, and CHBF50, respectively. The results showed that the mortar sample with the highest iron filing concentration, CHBF50, provides the best protection against gamma rays and fast neutrons which could be used in the nuclear and medical fields., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

With the use of multilayer materials such as concrete, mortar and ceramics that were fortified with PbO, WO 3 and Bi 2 O 3 nanoparticles, our study's objective was to produce a an effective photon shielding system. Experimental evaluation of the radiation shielding efficiency of two sets of samples with various thicknesses was conducted. The elemental content and morphology of the samples were corroborated by SEM and EDX studies, with ceramic samples exhibiting superior particle distribution and fewer voids than concrete and mortar specimens. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) was studied both experimentally and numerically using the Phy-X program, and it was found that the two sets of values were in satisfactory agreement. The values of LAC were consistently greater for samples with 30% of the selected heavy metal oxides than for those with 10%. The LAC for Cer-1 was 5.003 cm -1 at 0.059 MeV, whereas the corresponding LAC for Cer-2 was 2.123 cm -1 . The LAC values were as follows: ceramics (5.003 cm -1 ), mortar (2.999 cm -1 ), concrete (2.733 cm -1 ), and the transmission factor (TF) examination of the multiple-layer specimens showed that the TF of the 3 cm thick multilayer sample was lower than that of the 2 cm thick sample and that both multilayer samples displayed better attenuation efficiency in comparison to single-layer specimens. The results show the possibility for employing multilayer structures with different densities, thicknesses, and sizes in suitable radiation shielding applications., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

We developed new composites for photons shielding applications. The composite were prepared with epoxy resin, red clay and bismuth oxide nanoparticles (Bi 2 O 3 NPs). In order to establish which ratio of red clay to Bi 2 O 3 NPs provides the best shielding capabilities, several different ratios of red clay to Bi 2 O 3 NPs were tested. The transmission factor (TF) was calculated for two different thicknesses of each sample. From the TF data, we found that epoxy resin materials have a high attenuation capacity at low energy. For ERB-10 sample (40%Epoxy + 50% Red clay + 10% Bi 2 O 3 NPs), the TF values are 52.3% and 14.3% for thicknesses of 0.5 and 1.5 cm (at 0.06 MeV). The composite which contains the maximum amount of Bi 2 O 3 nanoparticles (40%Epoxy + 50% Red clay + 10% Bi 2 O 3 NPs, coded as ERB-30) has lower TF than the other composites. The TF data demonstrated that ERB-30 is capable of producing more effective attenuation from gamma rays. We also determined the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) for the prepared composites and we found that the LAC increases for a given energy in proportion to the Bi 2 O 3 NPs ratio. For the ERB-0 (free Bi 2 O 3 NPs), the LAC at 0.662 MeV is 0.143 cm -1 , and it increases to 0.805 cm -1 when 10% of Bi 2 O 3 NPs is added to the epoxy resin composite. The half value layer (HVL) results showed that the thickness necessary to shield that photons to its half intensity can be significantly lowered by increasing the weight fraction of the Bi 2 O 3 NPs in the epoxy resin composite from 0 to 30%. The HVL for ERB-20 and ERB-30 were compared with other materials such as (Epoxy as a matrix material and Al 2 O 3 , Fe 2 O 3 , MgO and ZrO 2 as filler oxides in the matrix at 0.662 MeV. The HVL values for ERB-20 and ERB-30 are 4.385 and 3.988 cm and this is lower than all the selected epoxy polymers., (© 2023. The Author(s).)