Comprehensive investigations on radiation shielding efficacy of bulk and nano Pb-Sn-Cd-Zn alloys

Abstract

The alloys with composition:Pb60Sn20CdxZn20-x, where x=0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mol.% were fabricated at nano-scale as well as bulk scale using the convention melt quench technique. Different characterizations techniques such as Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) analysis were performed to verify the particle size reduction to nano-scale, surface morphology and elemental composition of Pb60Sn20ZnxCd(20-x) alloy systems. These nano-structured and bulk alloy systems were experimentally investigated and compared for their potential use in the radiation shielding applications. Further, radiation shielding effectiveness against electron beam, proton beam, alpha and heavy carbon ion beams has also been investigated for fabricated bulk alloys using Geant4 simulations. Present theoretical and experimental analysis affirmed that the radiation shielding efficacy gets enhanced for ball-milled PbSnCdZn nano alloy specimens as compared to bulk counterparts.

Determination of Gamma Radiation Shielding Characteristics for Some Iron-Based Metallic Glasses

“…The dominant interaction process in the low energy region is the photoelectric event, while the dominant processes in the medium and high energy regions are Compton scattering and pair production events, respectively. Photoelectric crosssection depends on photon energy and atomic number as E -3.5 and Z [4][5] , respectively. While the relationship between Compton scattering cross-section between energy and atomic number is E -1 and Z, these dependencies are E and Z 2 for the pair production cross-section.…”

“…Due to the known toxic effects of lead and some problems arising from its weight, the search for new radiation shielding materials as an alternative to lead has gained momentum. Glasses [1][2][3], alloys [4][5][6], concretes [7][8][9], composites [10][11][12] and minerals [13,14] are included in the search new alternative products to lead. In addition to these, the choice of metallic glasses is a new alternative for use in this field, as their elements are adjustable up to a certain point.…”