Radiation attenuation properties of spinel ferrite nanostructures for biomedical applications: A comparative Monte Carlo simulation analysis

Abstract

This study investigates the photon interaction properties, mass attenuation coefficients (MAC), and radiation attenuation efficiency of NiFe2O4, CoFe2O4, and MnFe2O4 spinel ferrite nanostructures for biomedical applications. Through simulations using MCNP6, and PHITS, NiFe2O4 exhibited the highest mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) and linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) across photon energy levels, confirming its superior photon attenuation capabilities. The simulation results were also compared with WinXCom data to validate their consistency and accuracy. The study further analyzed half-value layers (HVL) and tenth-value layers (TVL), critical for radiation shielding, with NiFe2O4 showing the lowest HVL and TVL values, indicating enhanced efficiency. At 0.015 MeV, NiFe2O4 showed the most favorable attenuation metrics, including a MAC of 45.4400 cm2/g, LAC of 243.1040 cm−1, HVL of 0.0029 cm, and TVL of 0.0095 cm. The mean free path (MFP) and effective atomic number (Zeff) trends align with these results, where NiFe2O4 consistently demonstrated the shortest MFP and highest Zeff, reinforcing its suitability for medical imaging and targeted therapeutic applications. Moreover, exposure buildup factors (EBF) and energy absorption buildup factors (EABF) were lowest for NiFe2O4, reflecting an inverse relationship between Zeq and these values, enhancing its radiation shielding potential. Mass stopping power (MSP) and projected range (PR) analyses using SRIM highlighted NiFe2O4's effectiveness in attenuating both alpha particles and protons, with minimal stopping power and range. These findings underline NiFe2O4's advantages in photon and charged particle attenuation, suggesting its high potential as a nanomaterial for imaging, radiation therapy, and other biomedical uses.