Introduction of Graphene/h-BN Metamaterial as Neutron Radiation Shielding by Implementing Monte Carlo Simulation

Abstract

In this paper, graphene/h-BN metamaterial was investigated as a new neutron radiation shielding (NRS) material by Monte Carlo N-Particle X version (MCNPX) Transport Code. The graphene/h-BN metamaterial are capable of both thermal and fast neutron moderator and neutron absorber process. The constituent phases in graphene/h-BN metamaterial are chosen to be hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and graphene. The introduced target was irradiated by an Am–Be neutron source with an energy spectrum of 100 keV to 15 MeV in a Monte Carlo simulation input file. The resulting current transmission rate (CTR) was investigated by the MCNPX code. Due to concrete’s widespread use as a radiation shielding material, the results of this design were also compared with concrete targets. The results show a significant increase in NRS compared to concrete. Therefore, metamaterial with constituent phase’s graphene/h-BN can be a suitable alternative to concrete for NRS.

Investigating the hard X-ray production via proton spallation on different materials to detect elements

“…Several studies have used this code [32,33] and reported experimental results versus simulations with greater accuracy [34]. This code is widely used in various fields like detectors [35], archaeology [36], food and dairy irradiation [37,38], radiation shielding [39], and radiography and radiotherapy [40,41]. The energy threshold and proper energy range to produce hard X-rays from proton spallation of NaCl, soil, and the well-known materials available in nature for the Photon Induced X-ray Florescence Emission (PIXFE) method [42][43][44] are described in this study.…”

Two-Dimensional Hexagonal Structure of Boron Nitride Nanotubes and BNNT-Induced Phase Transition of Block Copolymer in BNNT/Block Copolymer Complex for Energy Harvesting

“…For example, BNNTs are electrically insulative because they have a bandgap energy (5-6 eV) arising from the localization of electrons at the positions of N and B atoms [4][5][6]. In addition, BNNTs display excellent neutron shielding properties because they are composed of a combination of B (with a thermal neutron absorption cross-sectional area of >3000 barns) and N atoms that can be applied to the neutron shielding applications of composites using BNNTs and boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS) [7][8][9][10][11][12]. Recent studies show that BNNTs displayed piezoelectric and catalytic properties [13][14][15].…”