Monte Carlo Simulation for Investigating the Sintering Temperatures Effects on Radiation Shielding Performances of Lead-Free ABO3 Perovskite Ceramic

In this study, a series of barium titanate ceramics of the chemical composition BaTiO3 was prepared. The solid-state reaction route was adopted to synthesize the ceramic samples at various sintering temperatures of 1100-1300 degrees C. X-ray diffraction and FTIR spectroscopy were utilized to examine the structure of the fabricated ceramics. The UV-Vis-reflectance data were recorded to guess the optical bandgap energy of the synthesized ceramics. The ability of the synthesized ceramics to attenuate ionizing radiation was qualified using a Monte Carlo simulation (MCNP code) in the gamma-energy interval ranging between 59 keV and 1408 keV. Shielding parameters, including LAC, TF, and RPE, were evaluated. The XRD and FTIR analyses showed the formation of a tetragonal BaTiO3 perovskite structure with the Pmmm space group. The crystallite size and the relative density increased, whereas the porosity decreased, with increasing sintering temperatures. Optical bandgap energy (E-g) values decreased as the sintering temperatures increased. The radiation shielding results depicted that raising the sintering temperature between 1100 degrees C and 1300 degrees C resulted in a slight increase in the mu values by a factor of approximate to 8 %. The mentioned increase in the mu values caused a reduction in the Delta(eq) and Delta(0.5), and TF values for the fabricated BaTiO3 ceramic samples, while the RPE values increased with increasing sintering temperatures between 1100 degrees C and 1300 degrees C.

Automated summary

A series of barium titanate ceramics were prepared using the solid-state reaction route at various sintering temperatures. The structure of the ceramics was examined using X-ray diffraction and FTIR spectroscopy. Optical bandgap energy was estimated through UV-Vis-reflectance data. The ceramics' ability to attenuate ionizing radiation was evaluated using Monte Carlo simulation, and shielding parameters were assessed.