Enhancement of Bentonite Materials with Cement for Gamma-Ray Shielding Capability

The gamma-ray shielding ability of various Bentonite-Cement mixed materials from northeast Egypt have been examined by determining their theoretical and experimental mass attenuation coefficients, μ_m (cm²g^-1), at photon energies of 59.6, 121.78, 344.28, 661.66, 964.13, 1173.23, 1332.5 and 1408.01 keV emitted from ²⁴¹Am, ¹³⁷Cs, ¹⁵²Eu and ⁶⁰Co point sources. The μ_m was theoretically calculated using the chemical compositions obtained by Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDX), while a NaI (Tl) scintillation detector was used to experimentally determine the μ_m (cm²g^-1) of the mixed samples. The theoretical values are in acceptable agreement with the experimental calculations of the XCom software. The linear attenuation coefficient (μ), mean free path (MFP), half-value layer (HVL) and the exposure buildup factor (EBF) were also calculated by knowing the μ_m values of the examined samples. The gamma-radiation shielding ability of the selected Bentonite-Cement mixed samples have been studied against other puplished shielding materials. Knowledge of various factors such as thermo-chemical stability, availability and water holding capacity of the bentonite-cement mixed samples can be analyzed to determine the effectiveness of the materials to shield gamma rays.