Radiation shielding properties of bi-ferroic ceramics added with CNTs

This study reports the structural and radiation shielding properties of bi-ferroic ceramics added with carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Three samples labeled C1, C2, and C3 were synthesized by the sol-gel process followed by the sintering step at high temperatures. The structural analysis showed a tetragonal structure for C1 ceramic sample and a cubic structure for C2, and C3 samples. The inclusion of the CNTs phase into the bi-ferroic ceramic phases induces a variation in the lattice constant and causes a shrinkage in the cell unit volume V. For the C1, C2, and C3 ceramics, the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) was experimentally measured at nine energies in the range of 8.1 x 10-2 - 1.41 MeV. At 8.1 x 10-2 MeV, the LAC is 14.244, 15.763 and 16.837 cm-1 for C1-C3 ceramics. The LAC results demonstrated the importance of utilizing these ceramics for low-energy radiation shielding applications. From the half-value layer (HVL) results, we found that a layer with a small thickness can be used to reduce the intensity of the low-energy photons. At higher energy, a thicker layer is needed to reduce the number of photons that can penetrate the ceramics.

Automated summary

This study reports the structural and radiation shielding properties of bi-ferroic ceramics added with carbon nanotubes. The experimental results demonstrate the importance of these ceramics in low-energy radiation shielding applications.