Comparative Gamma-Ray and Fast-Neutron Shielding Assessment of Natural Mineral-Ore Pellets

IF 3.5 3区物理与天体物理 Q3 CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL

Radiation Physics and Chemistry Pub Date : 2026-10-26 DOI:10.1016/j.radphyschem.2026.114573

Nergiz Yıldız Yorgun, Esra Kavaz Perişanoğlu

{"title":"Comparative Gamma-Ray and Fast-Neutron Shielding Assessment of Natural Mineral-Ore Pellets","authors":"Nergiz Yıldız Yorgun, Esra Kavaz Perişanoğlu","doi":"10.1016/j.radphyschem.2026.114573","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"In this study, the radiation shielding properties of compacted pellets prepared from tourmaline, ilmenite, witherite ore, antimony ore, and bismuth ore were investigated. The elemental compositions of the samples were determined by SEM–EDX and used in the theoretical EpiXS shielding calculations. Gamma-ray attenuation measurements were performed using a <ce:sup loc=\"pre\">133</ce:sup>Ba source over the energy range of 81–383 keV. Both linear and mass attenuation coefficients were evaluated to distinguish the effects of elemental composition and density. The linear attenuation coefficient of bismuth ore decreased from 20.30 ± 1.32 cm<ce:sup loc=\"post\">-1</ce:sup> at 81 keV to 2.20 ± 0.14 cm<ce:sup loc=\"post\">-1</ce:sup> at 383 keV, while that of witherite ore decreased from 13.23 ± 0.04 cm<ce:sup loc=\"post\">-1</ce:sup> to 0.59 ± 0.02 cm<ce:sup loc=\"post\">-1</ce:sup>. The half-value layer increased with photon energy for all samples, with bismuth ore exhibiting the lowest values of 0.03–0.32 cm and tourmaline the highest values of 1.11–2.24 cm. The effective atomic number generally decreased with increasing energy, while the buildup factors showed a strong dependence on photon energy and penetration depth. The theoretically calculated fast-neutron removal cross-section was highest for bismuth ore (0.16232 cm<ce:sup loc=\"post\">-1</ce:sup>), followed by ilmenite (0.14241 cm<ce:sup loc=\"post\">-1</ce:sup>), tourmaline (0.11275 cm<ce:sup loc=\"post\">-1</ce:sup>), witherite ore (0.10054 cm<ce:sup loc=\"post\">-1</ce:sup>), and antimony ore (0.09463 cm<ce:sup loc=\"post\">-1</ce:sup>). Among the investigated materials and under the studied conditions, bismuth ore exhibited the highest gamma-ray shielding performance, whereas neutron shielding followed a different material-dependent trend. The novelty of this study lies in the direct comparison of compacted natural mineral-ore pellets under identical preparation and measurement conditions, without dilution in a secondary composite matrix.","PeriodicalId":20861,"journal":{"name":"Radiation Physics and Chemistry","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5000,"publicationDate":"2026-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Radiation Physics and Chemistry","FirstCategoryId":"92","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radphyschem.2026.114573","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

In this study, the radiation shielding properties of compacted pellets prepared from tourmaline, ilmenite, witherite ore, antimony ore, and bismuth ore were investigated. The elemental compositions of the samples were determined by SEM–EDX and used in the theoretical EpiXS shielding calculations. Gamma-ray attenuation measurements were performed using a 133Ba source over the energy range of 81–383 keV. Both linear and mass attenuation coefficients were evaluated to distinguish the effects of elemental composition and density. The linear attenuation coefficient of bismuth ore decreased from 20.30 ± 1.32 cm-1 at 81 keV to 2.20 ± 0.14 cm-1 at 383 keV, while that of witherite ore decreased from 13.23 ± 0.04 cm-1 to 0.59 ± 0.02 cm-1. The half-value layer increased with photon energy for all samples, with bismuth ore exhibiting the lowest values of 0.03–0.32 cm and tourmaline the highest values of 1.11–2.24 cm. The effective atomic number generally decreased with increasing energy, while the buildup factors showed a strong dependence on photon energy and penetration depth. The theoretically calculated fast-neutron removal cross-section was highest for bismuth ore (0.16232 cm-1), followed by ilmenite (0.14241 cm-1), tourmaline (0.11275 cm-1), witherite ore (0.10054 cm-1), and antimony ore (0.09463 cm-1). Among the investigated materials and under the studied conditions, bismuth ore exhibited the highest gamma-ray shielding performance, whereas neutron shielding followed a different material-dependent trend. The novelty of this study lies in the direct comparison of compacted natural mineral-ore pellets under identical preparation and measurement conditions, without dilution in a secondary composite matrix.

查看原文本刊更多论文

天然矿球团的伽玛射线和快中子屏蔽比较评价

本文研究了电气石、钛铁矿、辉石矿、锑矿和铋矿的压实球团的辐射屏蔽性能。用SEM-EDX测定了样品的元素组成，并将其用于EpiXS屏蔽理论计算。伽马射线衰减测量使用133Ba源在81-383 keV的能量范围内进行。利用线性衰减系数和质量衰减系数来区分元素组成和密度的影响。铋矿的线性衰减系数从81 keV下的20.30±1.32 cm-1下降到383 keV下的2.20±0.14 cm-1，辉石矿的线性衰减系数从13.23±0.04 cm-1下降到0.59±0.02 cm-1。所有样品的半值层随光子能量的增加而增加，其中铋矿的最低值为0.03 ~ 0.32 cm，电气石的最低值为1.11 ~ 2.24 cm。有效原子序数一般随能量的增加而减小，而累积因子则与光子能量和穿透深度密切相关。理论计算的快中子去除截面最大的是铋矿（0.16232 cm-1），其次是钛矿（0.14241 cm-1）、电气石（0.11275 cm-1）、辉石矿（0.10054 cm-1）和锑矿（0.09463 cm-1）。在所研究的材料和条件下，铋矿具有最高的伽马射线屏蔽性能，而中子屏蔽则遵循不同的材料依赖趋势。本研究的新颖之处在于，在相同的制备和测量条件下，直接比较了压实的天然矿物-矿石球团，而无需在二次复合基质中稀释。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Radiation Physics and Chemistry 化学-核科学技术

CiteScore

5.60

自引率

17.20%

发文量

574

审稿时长

12 weeks

期刊介绍： Radiation Physics and Chemistry is a multidisciplinary journal that provides a medium for publication of substantial and original papers, reviews, and short communications which focus on research and developments involving ionizing radiation in radiation physics, radiation chemistry and radiation processing. The journal aims to publish papers with significance to an international audience, containing substantial novelty and scientific impact. The Editors reserve the rights to reject, with or without external review, papers that do not meet these criteria. This could include papers that are very similar to previous publications, only with changed target substrates, employed materials, analyzed sites and experimental methods, report results without presenting new insights and/or hypothesis testing, or do not focus on the radiation effects.