Evaluation of radiation shielding performance: comparison of lead and polyvinylidene difluoride reinforced with tungsten

This study examines the shielding properties of polyvinylidene difluoride reinforced with 20%, 40%, and 60% weight fractions of tungsten and compares the findings to those obtained from lead. The mass and linear attenuation coefficient, half-value layer, and effective atomic number were calculated using the Phy-X/PSD software. From the photon interactions with matter point of view, the Photoelectric effect dominates in low-energy photons, while pair production is dominant in high-energy photons; meanwhile, Compton scattering remains almost constant across the energy range. The results show that the mass attenuation coefficient is higher for low-energy photons, and composites with a higher weight fraction of tungsten exhibit higher values of mass attenuation coefficients. The half-value layer decreased as the weight fraction of tungsten increased, and the effective atomic number was higher for lower energy photons. These findings were contrasted against calculations derived for lead. Within the energy interval of 20-200 keV, the mass attenuation coefficient for lead was observed to be approximately two times that of the optimal values recorded for the specific composites under examination, whereas at 2 MeV, this discrepancy diminished. The minimum half-value layer for polyvinylidene difluoride augmented with 60% weight proportions of tungsten in comparison to lead was identified at an energy of 2 MeV. During this interval, the half-value layer for this composite material was threefold greater than that of lead. Although the mass attenuation coefficient is higher for lead, in some energy ranges (about two MeV), the findings from the selected composites are completely comparable to those from lead, demonstrating the ability and performance of the polyvinylidene difluoride composites for radiation shielding.