Characterization of new materials for protection against ionizing radiation in radiology

Condori L.Y.; Chen F.; Vega Ramírez J. · Radiation Effects and Defects in Solids (2022) · DOI: 10.1080/10420150.2022.2039925

Resumen

The use and manipulation of radiation sources and equipment generating ionizing radiation in various applications of science, industry and medicine have increased significantly in recent years. This extensive use of these sources can lead to a longer time radiation exposure, eventually causing possible health effects for medical personnel. Therefore, the use of shielding materials for protection is paramount, reducing the risk of radiation exposure. The objective of this work was to manufacture three new shielding materials against ionizing radiation and compare them with other protective materials that already exist commercially: concrete galena, standard concrete and those manufactured by the Shieldwerx Company (a division of Bladewerx LLC). These new materials were called Sice, Sicer and Sire. Parameters such as the total mass attenuation coefficient (Formula presented.), half-value layer and effective atomic number ((Formula presented.)) for energies of 1 keV to 1 GeV were simulated using the PENELOPE Code (2014 version) and the Auto-Zeff software (1.7 version). To simulate these new materials, it was necessary to previously determine their density, chemical composition and percentage by the atomic weight of each element which was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was concluded that Sice and Sicer materials have greater absorption against ionizing radiation compared to the other materials of the Shieldwerx company and Standard concrete. For energy values of 25 and 84 keV, it was found that Sicer absorbs 25% more radiation than the Shieldwerx Company’s best material (field-castable head-resistant shielding) and Standard concrete. A slightly lower percentage was found for the Sice material with the same energy values. Therefore, these new materials can be potential shielding materials in mammography (24–30 keV) and conventional radiography (40–150 keV).

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa