Synergistic Effect in Ionizing Radiation Shielding with Recent Tile Composites Blended with Marble Dust and BaO Micro/Nanoparticles

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the impact of micro- and nano-sized barium oxide addition on the radiation-shielding properties of red clay tiles mixed with waste marble and different sizes of BaO (micro- or nanoparticles) for comparative analysis. The linear attenuation coefficients (LAC) of the prepared samples were measured using an HPGe detector between 0.060 and 1.333 MeV. Moreover, a comparison was made between the experimental micro-composites and values obtained by Phy-X software. The results revealed that the red clay/waste marble tile composites doped with nano-sized BaO demonstrated superior radiation-shielding properties compared to those doped with micro-sized BaO. At 1.33 MeV, WR-20mBaO (containing 20 wt % micro-sized BaO) and WR-20nBaO (containing 20 wt % nano-sized BaO) exhibited HVL values of 4.75 cm and 4.25 cm, respectively. The lower HVL value of WR-20nBaO indicates superior radiation-shielding performance, highlighting the potential benefits of using nano-sized BaO as a radiation-shielding additive. Our findings also demonstrated that increasing the amount of BaO deposited onto red clay mixed-waste marble resulted in improved radiation-shielding properties. Our study demonstrates that adjusting the concentration of BaO is a viable strategy for enhancing the radiation attenuation properties of red clay tiles. In addition, the addition of waste marble to the tiles enhances its mechanical properties, and it is also positively recycled in community service.

Keywords

• barium oxide
• nanoparticles
• red clay
• waste marble
• radiation shielding