Elemental characterization of quartzite of Pouma sub-division of Cameroon and radiation attenuation properties based on XCOM and GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation

This study used the Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometry to determine the elemental composition of nineteen rock samples from the Pouma sub-division of Cameroon. The major chemical elements found in these samples were compounds of SiO2, Al2O3, K2O, Fe2O3, CaO, and P2O5. The elemental characterization of the investigated samples was used to evaluate the mass attenuation coefficients of the quartzite rocks using the XCOM analytical calculation software and the GEANT4 Monte Carlo computational toolkit. The mass attenuation coefficients were calculated for the average concentration values of the samples from different sampling sites. The mass attenuation coefficients generated using the GEANT4 simulation have uncertainties less than 4% in all the four investigated sampling sites compared to the analytical results. The results of the simulation showed that the calculated mass attenuation coefficients are in good agreement with the theoretical data. Therefore, the developed GEANT4 code for radiation properties assessment of rocks is accurate and could be used by scientists worldwide. The determination of these mass attenuation coefficients is consequently the unveiling of radiation shielding properties of the investigated material.

Automated summary

This study utilized EDXRF spectrometry to determine the elemental composition and mass attenuation coefficients of nineteen rock samples from the Pouma sub-division of Cameroon. The results showed that the mass attenuation coefficients calculated by GEANT4 simulation were in good agreement with experimental results, with uncertainties less than 4%.