Alternative gamma-ray shielding material: Ternary composite including polyester resin/barite/molybdenum

In the present study, ternary composites containing different proportions of barite and molybdenum and using unsaturated polyester resin as binder were produced. The gamma ray shielding characteristics of these ternary composites were investigated by experimental, theoretical and simulation processes to obtain reliable results. Herewith, RPE, μ, μ/ρ, HVL, TVL, MFP and Z_eff parameters for the prepared composites have been revealed. The experimental process was performed in the gamma-ray energy range of 276.4–1332.5 keV with the help of HPGe detector. In the theoretical and simulation studies carried out at the same gamma-ray energies, WinXCOM and GEANT4 were used, respectively. Data produced by three different methods were compared and it was seen that there was agreement between them. The μ values of the coded as BaMo50 composite are 0.4935,0.4464, 0.3824, 0.3586, 0.2908, 0.2478, 0.1799, 0.1721 and 0.1682 cm⁻¹, respectively at 276.4, 302.9, 356.0, 383.9, 511.0, 661.7, 1173.2, 1274.5 and 1332.5 keV. It has been observed that the values of RPE, μ/ρ, μ and Z_eff parameters decrease with increasing gamma-ray energy and the opposite trend was observed for the HVL, TVL, and MFP parameters. The composite with the highest gamma-ray shielding capacity among all prepared ternary composites is the one coded as BaMo50.