Investigation of radiation shielding performance of oxygen compounds of 3d transition elements

BOYDAŞ E.

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, cilt.580, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)

Özet

This study presents a comprehensive experimental and theoretical investigation of the gamma-ray and fast-neutron shielding performance of oxygen-containing compounds of 3d transition metals (Ti, Cr, Fe, and Cu). Pellets prepared under controlled conditions were experimentally characterized using an Ultra Ge detector with Am-241 and Ba-133 photon sources over the 59.5–383.85 keV energy range, while theoretical attenuation parameters were calculated using the WinXCom and EpiXS databases. The experimental and theoretical mass attenuation coefficients (MAC) were in excellent agreement, with deviations generally within 1–5 %, confirming the reliability of the adopted methodology. The results demonstrate that the shielding performance is governed primarily by elemental composition and density, with copper-based compounds providing the most effective gamma-ray attenuation and Fe3O4 exhibiting the best fast-neutron shielding capability among all investigated materials. At 59.5 keV, Cu, Cu2O, and CuO exhibited the highest MAC values of 1.651, 1.493, and 1.354 cm2/g, respectively, whereas hydrated compounds such as Cr(NO3)3·9H2O showed the lowest attenuation capability (0.371 cm2/g). Consistently, Cu possessed the smallest half-value layer (0.42 cm), indicating superior photon shielding efficiency. The energy dependence of the effective atomic number and electron density confirmed the dominance of the photoelectric effect at low photon energies, while buildup-factor analyses revealed maximum photon accumulation in the intermediate-energy region where Compton scattering prevails. Fast-neutron shielding assessment further showed that Fe3O4 achieved the highest removal cross section (ΣR = 0.166 cm−1), substantially exceeding that of water (0.07 cm−1). These findings indicate that Cu, CuO, Cu2O, and Fe3O4 based materials are promising environmentally friendly candidates for advanced radiation shielding applications.