Monte Carlo simulation of gamma shielding properties of Lanthanum hexaboride (LaB6) and Cerium hexaboride (CeB6) materials synthesized by magnesiothermic reduction

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to synthesize the lanthanum hexaboride and cerium hexaboride materials within the optimum durability conditions and also investigate their gamma ray absorption features by using Monte Carlo method.Theory and Methods: Magnesiothermic reduction techniqe was used to synthesize materials by convenient experimental set up. Molecular structure and contents of the materials were determined using XRD and EDX spectroscopy for using the results in the Monte Carlo simulations. Beer-Lambert law was applied to calculate transmitted, absorbed and reflected quantity of incident photons directed onto material longitudinally. Atomic cross-section data of the related media were calculated by PEGS4 code of EGSnrc with broad photon energy range including low and high energy regions. After that, radiation absorption parameters such as mu/rho, HVL, TVL and MFP were calculated by using the developed code. Similar calculations were carried out by XCOM program to compare consistency of the obtained results. The calculated results were also compared with the previously investigated results for vermiculite, concrete, borosilicate, granite and lead.Results: The authors were succeeded desired purity level of the synthesized materials within the optimum conditions experimentally. It was observed from the calculated results that the lanthanum and the cerium hexaborides have higher absorption capability of gamma rays according to the aforementioned materials. It was also observed that they were more comparable with lead which is the standard shielding material.Conclusion: The results obtained from this study have showed that the synthesized materials are more promising than some previously investigated materials for radiation shielding. By thinking in terms of advantages and disadvantages, these materials may play an important role for protection of the people from hazardous effects of radiations used in medicine, industry, agriculture, nuclear power plants, research reactors, etc.