An experimental study on the radiation shielding properties of new type ceramics containing limonite and hematite minerals

In this study, the development and evaluation of new ceramic materials doped with limonite and hematite minerals in terms of their effectiveness in gamma ray and neutron shielding was investigated. The primary aim is to determine gamma-ray shielding parameters for these ceramics, using gamma photon energies emitted from the Barium-133 radioisotope at specific energy levels (81, 160, 223, 302, 356, and 383 keV). Measurements were conducted using a Canberra Ultra Ge detector to detect the intensities of radiations. The mass attenuation coefficient (μ_ρ), half-value thickness (Δ_0.5), mean free path (λ) and effective atomic numbers (Z_eff) were determined experimentally and theoretically. And, exposure (EBF) and energy absorption (EABF) buildup factor values of ceramics were determined at different mean free paths and photon energies using the EpiXS program. Intercalarily, fast neutron attenuation parameters (Σ_R) of ceramics have also been calculated. The densities of the ceramics increased with the addition of limonite and hematite minerals, ranging from 2.61 g/cm³ to 3.12 g/cm³ as the limonite content increased from 0 wt% to 30 wt %. Similar density variations were observed with the addition of hematite. There is a direct proportional relationship between the density of the ceramics and their shielding effectiveness. The effective atomic numbers (Z_eff) were ranked as C < H1 < H2 < H3 < L1 < L2 < L3, indicating that the shielding effectiveness improves with higher doping levels. The L3 ceramic (with 30 % limonite addition) sample exhibited the highest fast neutron removal cross-section values among the tested samples. The findings demonstrate that doping ceramics with limonite and hematite minerals enhances their density and significantly improves their shielding capabilities against both gamma radiation and fast neutrons. This suggests that such doped ceramics could be effectively used in radiation protection applications.