Evaluation of Radiation Shielding Reliability and Safety in Heavy Metal-Oxide-Reinforced Polyethylene Composites

Alipoor, Mohammadreza; Eshghi, Mahdi

doi:10.22034/IJRRS.2025.8.1.8

Evaluation of Radiation Shielding Reliability and Safety in Heavy Metal-Oxide-Reinforced Polyethylene Composites

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

Mohammadreza Alipoor ¹

Mahdi Eshghi ²

¹ Department t of Physics, Imam Hossein University, Tehran, Iran

² Department of Physics, Imam Hossein University, Tehran, Iran

10.22034/IJRRS.2025.8.1.8

Abstract

As a potentially hazardous factor in industrial, medical, and research environments, ionizing radiation has consistently created significant human and environmental safety and health challenges. In the present investigation, the influence of heavy element oxide deposition on the radiation shielding characteristics of high-density polyethylene is meticulously examined. This research delineates photon attenuation-related parameters, including the linear attenuation coefficient, mass attenuation coefficient, tenth-value layer, half-value layer, and radiation shielding efficiency of these materials, contextualized within the energy spectrum from gamma photons (0.015-10 MeV). To authenticate the simulation outcomes, the mass attenuation coefficient values computed via Geant4 were juxtaposed with the findings from the Phy-x program, revealing a commendable concordance between the two sets of results. The observed alignment of the data substantiates that the Geant4 tool constitutes a practical methodology for exploring gamma ray shielding properties. The findings elucidate a distinct correlation between the augmentation of heavy oxide concentration and the enhancement of radiation shielding efficacy. Furthermore, the results indicate that the radiation shielding efficiency gradually declines within the low energy spectrum, subsequently experiencing a pronounced increase. Ultimately, it underscores the influence of incorporating heavy element oxides on the efficacy of gamma-ray attenuation.

Keywords

Gamma-rays

Shielding

Polyethylene

Bismuth oxide

Geant4

Thallium oxide

Subjects

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