Impacts of Saudi Arabian fly ash on the structural, physical, and radiation shielding properties of clay bricks rich vermiculite mineral

Almuqrin Aljawhara H.,Abd El-Hamid Abd Allh M.,Sayyed M.I.,Mahmoud K.A. 한국원자력학회 2024 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.56 No.6

The current study investigated Saudi Arabian oil fly ash impacts on Egyptian clay bricks’ structural and radiation shielding properties. To produce the required bricks, crushed clay minerals from the Hafafit area were mixed with 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 % wt.% Saudi Arabian oil fly ash and pressed at a pressure rate of 68.55 MPa. Identification of the minerals in the chosen clay was achieved via X-ray diffraction. Additionally, the material’s morphology and chemical composition were determined through scanning electron microscope and energydispersive X-ray. The fabricated bricks’ density was reduced by 36.3 % through increasing the concentration of fly ash from 0 to 40 wt%. Then, the fly ash addition’s influence on the fabricated clay bricks’ γ-ray shielding properties was investigated by Monte Carlo simulation, which found a reduction in the fabricated bricks’ linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) by 41.2, 36.0, 33.8, and 33.8 % at the 0.059, 0.103, 0.662, and 1.252 MeV γ-ray energies, respectively. The LAC reduction caused an increase in the fabricated bricks’ half-value thickness, transmission factor, and the equivalent thickness of the lead. Moreover, the thicker fabricated sample thicknesses were found to have high γ-ray shielding capacity and can thus be used in radiation shielding applications.

Influence of various metal oxides (PbO, Fe2O3, MgO, and Al2O3) on the mechanical properties and γ-ray attenuation performance of zinc barium borate glasses

Almuqrin Aljawhara H.,Mahmoud K.A.,Rilwan U.,Sayyed M.I. 한국원자력학회 2024 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.56 No.7

The current work aims to fabricate metal oxide-doped (PbO, Fe2O3, MgO, and Al2O3, each of which boasts a purity of 99%) zinc barium borate glasses through the melt quenching technique at the 1000 ◦C melting temperature. The results showed that adding 5 mol.% of metal oxides PbO, Fe2O3, Al2O3, and MgO increases the density of the zinc barium borate glasses. Additionally, the fabricated glasses’ mechanical properties were determined based on the Makishima-Mackenzie model, which proved that the highest mechanical properties were achieved for glasses doped with Al2O3 compounds. The mechanical moduli for the glasses doped with Al2O3 reach 80.95 GPa (Young), 59.90 GPa (bulk), 31.75 GPa (shear), and 102.23 GPa (longitudinal). Additionally, the Al2O3-doped glasses’ microhardness reaches 4.77 GPa. Moreover, estimation of the fabricated glasses’ gammaray shielding capacity utilized Monte Carlo simulation. The highest linear attenuation coefficients are 29.132, 19.906, 19.243, and 18.923 cm 1 obtained at 0.033 MeV for glasses dopped by PbO, Fe2O3, MgO, and Al2O3, respectively. Therefore, glasses doped with 5 mol.% of PbO have high gamma-ray shielding capacities followed by glasses doped by Fe2O3.

Impacts of sintering temperature on the mechanical properties and gamma ray protection capacity of clay bricks

Almuqrin Aljawhara H.,Mahmoud K.A.,Sayyed M.I.,Al-Ghamdi H. 한국원자력학회 2024 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.56 No.7

The current study aims to develop new clay bricks doped with metallic waste for radiation shielding applications. The aforementioned new bricks were fabricated with various metallic waste concentrations under a pressure rate reaching ≈114 MPa and firing temperature of 1100 ◦C. The impacts of the metallic waste and the firing temperature on the developed brick samples’ physical, radiation shielding, and structural properties were studied. In order to identify the fabricated bricks’ mineral content, the X-ray diffraction pattern was used. Additionally, the fabricated bricks’ porosity and density were experimentally determined, where the porosity was reduced by 28.03%, while their densities increased by ≈ 10.5% by raising the concentration of metallic waste. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) for the developed brick was investigated experimentally using a NaI (Tl) scintillation detector over the 0.033–1.408 MeV energy interval. The measured LAC values were enhanced by increasing the concentrations of metallic waste within the fabricated bricks over the examined energy interval. The fabricated brick’s LAC enhancement improves the gamma-ray shielding characteristics. Therefore, the fabricated bricks are a cheap and suitable choice for radiation protection applications

Characterization of glasses composed of PbO, ZnO, MgO, and B2O3 in terms of their structural, optical, and gamma ray shielding properties

Almuqrin Aljawhara H.,Sayyed M.I.,Kumar Ashok,Rilwan U. 한국원자력학회 2024 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.56 No.7

The amorphous glasses containing PbO, ZnO, MgO, and B2O3 have been fabricated using the melt quenching technique. The structural properties have been analysed using the Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy. Derivative of Absorption Spectra Fitting (DASF) method have been used to estimate the band gap energy from the UV–Vis absorption data which decreases from 3.02 eV to 2.66 eV with increasing the concentration of the PbO.The four glass samples 0.284 and 0.826 MeV showed unique variations in terms of gamma attenuation ability. LZMB4 glass sample proved to be the mist effective in terms of shielding of gamma radiation as it requires little distance compared to LZMB3, LZMB2 and LZMB1 to attenuate. RPE revealed a raise with increase in the thickness of the material and reduces as the energy raises. TF is superior in LZMB1 compared to LZMB2, LZMB3 and LZMB4, confirming that, LZMB4 will attenuate better. The ZEff of the materials was seen falling as the energy increases, confirming that the linear attenuation coefficient of the glass materials decreases when the energy is increased. The results confirmed that, glass material LZMB4 is the best option especially for gamma radiation shielding applications compared to LZMB3, followed by LZMB2, then LZMB1

A novel barium oxide-based Iraqi sand glass to attenuate the low gamma-ray energies: Fabrication, mechanical, and radiation protection capacity evaluation

Al-Saeedi F.H.F.,Sayyed M.I.,Kapustin F.L.,Al-Ghamdi Hanan,Kolobkova E.V.,Tashlykov O.L.,Almuqrin Aljawhara H.,Mahmoud K.A. 한국원자력학회 2022 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.54 No.8

In the present work, untreated Iraqi sand with grain sizes varied between 100 and 200 mm was used to produce a colored glass sample that has shielding features against the low gamma-ray energy. Therefore, a weight of 70e60 wt % sand was mixed with 9e14 wt% B2O3, 8e10 wt% Na2O, 4e6 wt% of CaO, 3e6 wt% Al2O3, in addition to 0.3% of Co2O3. After melting and annealing the glass sample, the X-ray diffraction spectrometry was applied to affirm the amorphous phase of the fabricated glass samples. Moreover, the X-ray dispersive energy spectrometry was used to measure the chemical composition, and the MH-300A densimeter was applied to measure the fabricated sample's density. The Makishima-Makinzie model was applied to predict the mechanical properties of the fabricated glass. Besides, the Monte Carlo simulation was used to estimate the fabricated glass sample's radiation shielding capacity in the low-energy region between 22.1 and 160.6 keV. Therefore, the simulated linear attenuation coefficient changed between 10.725 and 0.484 cm1 , raising the gamma-ray energy between 22.1 and 160.6 keV. Also, other shielding parameters such as a half-value layer, pure lead equivalent thickness, and buildup factors were calculated

Impacts of the calcination temperature on the structural and radiation shielding properties of the NASICON compound synthesized from zircon minerals

Alhindawy Islam G.,Gamal Hany,Almuqrin Aljawhara.H.,Sayyed M.I.,Mahmoud K.A. 한국원자력학회 2023 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.55 No.5

The present work aims to fabricate Na1þxZr2SixP3-xO12 compound at various calcination temperatures based on the zircon mineral. The fabricated compound was calcinated at 250, 500, and 1000C. The effect of calcination temperature on the structure, crystal phase, and radiation shielding properties was studied for the fabricated compound. The X-ray diffraction diffractometer demonstrates that, the monoclinic crystal phase appeared at a calcination temperature of 250C and 500C is totally transformed to a highsymmetry hexagonal crystal phase under a calcination temperature of 1000C. The radiation shielding capacity was also qualified for the fabricated compounds using the Monte Carlo N-Particle transport code in the g-photons energy interval between 15keV and 122keV. The impacts of calcination temperature on the g-ray shielding behavior were clarified in the present study, where the linear attenuation coefficient was enhanced by 218% at energy of 122keV, when the calcination temperature increased from 250 to 1000C, respectively

Experimental assessment for the photon shielding features of silicone rubber reinforced by tellurium borate oxides

M. Elsafi,Heba jamal ALasali,Aljawhara H. Almuqrin,K.G. Mahmoud,M.I. Sayyed Korean Nuclear Society 2023 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.55 No.6

In the present study, six silicone rubber doped by tellurium borate oxides were fabricated using the casting method. The densities of the fabricated silicon rubber-doped by tellurium borate oxides samples were measured using the Archimedes Method. Moreover, the linear attenuation coefficient of silicone rubber doped tellurium borate oxides samples was evaluated experimentally using the hyper pure germanium, and the recorded linear attenuation coefficient values were affirmed using the theoretical Phy-X program. The experimental measurements were performed using the narrow beam transmission method with radioactive isotopes Am-241, Cs-137, and Co-60 with energies of 59, 661, 1173, and 1332 keV. The linear attenuation coefficient values showed an enhancement by 4.73 times, 1.20 time, 1.17, time, and 1.17 time, respectively at gamma photon energies of 59, 661, 1173, and 1332 keV, when the TeO₂ concentration increased in the fabricated composites from 0 to 50 wt%. The enhancement of the linear attenuation coefficient values has a positive effect on the transmission rate values where the half-value thickness and transmission rate were decreased accompanied by an increase in the RPE.

New polyester composites synthesized with additions of different sized ZnO to study their shielding efficiency

Elsafi M.,Sayyed M.I.,Almuqrin Aljawhara H. 한국원자력학회 2024 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.56 No.7

This investigation developed a novel polyester composite based on the addition of zinc oxide (ZnO) of different sizes. We prepared nine samples Containing different percentages and sizes of ZnO as well as the control sample (Pol-ZnO0). The attenuation factors of Pol-micro ZnO were estimated using Phy-x software, while the HPGe detector and various gamma sources were used to experimentally measure the all-prepared composites. In terms of the two methods for micro composites, good agreement was observed. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) of Pol-ZnO20, Pol-ZnO40, and Pol-ZnO60, two more samples one with ZnO nanoparticles instead of microparticles, and the other with half microparticles and half nanoparticles (referenced as 0.5 M + 0.5 N) were determined. For all the Polyester composites and energies, the mixture of microparticles and nanoparticles had greater LAC values than each of the particles on their own. For example, the LAC values for the Pol-ZnO20 polymer at 1.330 MeV are 0.0836, 0.0888, and 0.0903 cm 1 for the microparticles, nanoparticles, and mixture, respectively. The values of the prepared polymer samples’ radiation protection efficiency (RPE) against energy with a thickness of 2 cm was determined experimentally. The Pol-ZnO60 0.5 M + 0.5 N sample has the highest RPE out of all the samples, followed by its nanoparticle counterpart, and then its microparticle counterpart. On the other hand, the Pol-ZnO0 sample, the polymer with no ZnO content, at all energies has the lowest RPE, followed by the three Pol-ZnO20 samples.

Impacts of halloysite clay nanoparticles on the structural and γ-ray shielding properties of the epoxy resin

Mahmoud K.G.,Sayyed M.I.,Hashim S.,Almuqrin Aljawhara H.,El-Soad A.M Abu 한국원자력학회 2023 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.55 No.4

In this study, halloysite nanoparticles-doped epoxy resin was synthesised using the casting method. The MH-300A density metre revealed that the density of the fabricated composites changed from 1.132 to 1.317 g/cm3 as the halloysite nanoparticle concentration increased. The Fourier transform infrared was recorded for the synthesised composites. Furthermore, the γ-ray shielding properties of the synthesised composites were evaluated using Monte Carlo simulation and a theoretical programme, XCOM. The linear attenuation coefficient of the epoxy resin increased by 43% (at γ-energy of 15 keV) and 14% (at γ-photon energy of 662 keV) when the concentration of the halloysite nanoparticles was increased from 0 wt% to 40 wt%, respectively.