Radiation Shielding Features of Ordinary and High-Density Concretes Loaded With PbO Micro and Nanoparticles against High-Energy Photons

The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of PbO nano and micro-sized fillers on ordinary and heavy concretes for different photon energies.
The MCNPX Monte Carlo code (version 2.6.0) was used for all simulations in the present study. A model of narrow-beam geometry was validated and utilized to calculate the linear attenuation of samples. Three concentrations of PbO, including the weight of 23%, 37.5%, and 50% were simulated. The nano- and microparticle-loaded concretes were simulated using the Lattice and Universe properties of MCNPX code. Finally, the mass attenuation coefficients of studied concretes were analyzed and compared in this study.
Among all the studied concretes, the highest increase of 11% in attenuation coefficient was seen for concretes doped with PbO nanoparticles. The particle size effect was not observed for 18 MeV photon beam, and maximum difference between nano-fillers and micro-fillers was observed for photon energies around 1 MeV.
The difference between nano-fillers and micro-fillers was not significant for heavy concretes in comparison to that for ordinary concrete. It is recommended to apply PbO nanoparticles as effective filler in the ordinary concrete composition for providing higher shielding performance.