Analysis of Gamma Radiation Shielding Properties of Ternary Polymer Composites Fabricated with Polyester Resin/Barite/Tin

In recent years, there has been a great need for new protective materials that are effective in protecting against ionizing radiation and have the desired properties, and scientific studies on this subject continue unabated. In the presented study, ternary polymer composite materials including polyester resin, barite and tin were prepared and their gamma ray shielding properties were evaluated. The first process in the study is the preparation of ternary polymer composite materials that for this purpose, first the polymer matrix was prepared, then weight percentages ranging from 0 % to 50 % of barite and tin were added to the polymer matrix as a phase material. In order to investigate the gamma ray shielding properties of the produced ternary polymer composites, mass attenuation coefficient, linear attenuation coefficient, half value layer, tenth value layer, mean free path, effective atomic number and radiation protection efficiency parameters were determined with the help of experimental, theoretical and simulation codes. Experimental studies were carried out using a High Purity Germanium detector in narrow beam geometry and ¹³³Ba, ²²Na, ¹³⁷Cs, ⁶⁰Co radioactive sources that emit photons between 276.4 and 1332.5 keV energy. Theoretical calculations were made with the help of the WinXCOM computer program, and simulation calculations were made with the help of the Geometry and Tracking Version 4 (GEANT 4) Monte Carlo simulation program. The obtained experimental results were compared with theoretical and GEANT4 simulation results and a general agreement was observed between them. It was determined that the shielding features were excellent, especially at the energy value of 276.4 keV for the prepared composites. It was concluded that the ternary polymer composite material coded as BaSn50, containing 50 % tin by weight, has the best gamma shielding feature among the prepared samples.