Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Micro gadolinium oxide dispersed flexible composites developed for the shielding of thermal neutron/gamma rays

  • Boyu Wang (School of Science, Xi'an Polytechnic University) ;
  • Xiaolin Guo (School of Science, Xi'an Polytechnic University) ;
  • Lin Yuan (School of Science, Xi'an Polytechnic University) ;
  • Qinglong Fang (School of Science, Xi'an Polytechnic University) ;
  • Xiaojuan Wang (School of Science, Xi'an Polytechnic University) ;
  • Tianyi Qiu (School of Science, Xi'an Polytechnic University) ;
  • Caifeng Lai (Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, China Academy of Engineering Physics) ;
  • Qi Wang (Science and Technology on Nuclear Data Laboratory, China Institute of Atomic Energy) ;
  • Yang Liu (School of Science, Xi'an Polytechnic University)
  • Received : 2022.12.04
  • Accepted : 2023.03.05
  • Published : 2023.05.25
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Abstract

In this study, a series of flexible neutron/gamma shielding composites are fabricated through the doping of Gd2O3 into the matrix of SEBS with (MGd2O3: MSEBS) % from 5% to 100%. Neutron transmittance test shows an exponential attenuation with the increase of areal density of Gd, in which the transmittance T ranges from 59.1440% to 35.3026%, with standard deviation less than 2.2743%, mass attenuation coefficient 𝜇m from 0.3194 cm2/g to 0.4999 cm2/g, and half value layer-HVL value from 2.4530 mm to 1.1313 mm. Shielding efficiency of the Gd2O3/SEBS composites is basically improved in comparison with that of B4C/SEBS. The transmittance T, mass/linear attenuation coefficient 𝜇m and 𝜇, HVL and effective atomic number Zeff for the shielding of γ rays (39 keV, 59 keV and 122 keV) are measured and calculated with XCOM as well as MCX programs. Finally, plots of the three dimensional relationships between transmittance, doping amount and thickness are provided to the guidance for engineering shielding design. In summary, the Gd2O3/SEBS composite is proved to be an effective flexible neutron/low energy γ rays shielding material, which could be of potential applications in the field of nuclear technology and nuclear engineering.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The MCX simulation software used in this study was developed by the NECP team of the School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University. The NECP team granted us the right to use the software in this work. This work was supported by the Youth Talent Support Program of Xi'an Polytechnic University (No.107020549), Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi (No. 2022JM-054), and Scientific Research Program Funded by Shaanxi Provincial Education Department (No.22JY023).

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