Rare Earth Based Neutron and Gamma Composite Shielding Materials

With the development of aerospace, nuclear technology and the wide use of nuclear energy, the requirement for the performance of nuclear radiation shielding materials have gradually increased. Since the high energy and strong penetrating ability of neutrons and gamma rays produced by nuclear reactions, they are of great harm to human beings and the environment. Therefore, the research on neutron and gamma radiation shielding materials has become a hot research topic of radiation protection. Rare earth elements have been gradually attracted considerable academic attention, and applied to research and development of neutron and gamma radiation shielding materials owing to their high neutron absorption cross section and high atomic numbers. This paper briefly introduces the application of rare earth materials in radiation shielding materials, and introduces the interaction mechanisms of rare earth elements with neutrons and gamma rays. According to the different types of substrate materials, the rare earth based neutron and gamma composite shielding materials can be divided into three categories: rare earth metal based, rare earth polymer based and rare earth glass based materials. The research progress of these three kinds of rare earth based radiation shielding materials is introduced respectively, and the possible problems and prospects of rare earth materials for neutron and gamma shielding radiation are analyzed