Morphological and Gamma-Ray Attenuation Properties of High-Density Polyethylene Containing Bismuth Oxide

For extensive radiation exposure, inventing a novel radiation shielding material is a burning issue at present for the purpose of life saving. Considering this thought, in this study, by adding sundry amounts of Bi2O3 into pure high-density polyethylene (HDPE), six HDPE systems were prepared to evaluate the radiation shielding efficiency. These HDPE systems were HDPEBi-0 (pure HDPE), HDPEBi-10 (10 wt% Bi2O3), HDPEBi-20 (20 wt% Bi2O3-), HDPEBi-30 (30 wt% Bi2O3), HDPEBi-40 (40 wt% Bi2O3), and HDPEBi-50 (50 wt% Bi2O3). The values of the linear attenuation coefficients of the experimental results (calculated in the lab using HPGe) were compared with the theoretical results (obtained using Phy-X software) at 0.060, 0.662, 1.173, and 1.333 MeV energies. To ensure the accurateness of the experimental results, this comparison was made. It was crystal clear that for energy values from 0.06 MeV to 1.333 MeV, all the experimental values were in line with Phy-X software data, which demonstrated the research setup's reliability. Here, the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC), and mean free path (MFP) shielding parameters were assessed. At the energy of 1.333 MeV, sample HDPEBi-0 showed an HVL value 1.7 times greater than that of HDPEBi-50, yet it was 23 times greater at 0.0595 MeV. That means that for proper radiation protection, very-low-energy HDPE systems containing 10-50% Bi2O3 could be used; however, the thickness of the HDPE system must be increased according to the energy of incident radiation.