Experimental Study of Polypropylene with Additives of Bi₂O₃ Nanoparticles as Radiation-Shielding Materials

This work aimed to intensively study polypropylene samples (PP) embedded with micro- and nanoparticles of Bi₂O₃ for their application in radiation shielding. Samples were prepared by adding 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% of Bi₂O₃ microparticles (mBi₂O₃) by weight, and adding 10% and 50% of Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles (nBi₂O₃), in addition to the control sample (pure polypropylene). The morphology of the prepared samples was tested, and also, the shielding efficiency of gamma rays was tested for different sources with different energies. The experimental LAC were determined using a NaI scintillation detector, the experimental results were compared with NIST-XCOM results, and a good agreement was noticed. The LAC values have been used to calculate some specific parameters, such as half value layer (HVL), mean free path (MFP), tenth value layer (TVL), and radiation protection efficiency (RPE), which are useful for discussing the shielding capabilities of gamma rays. The results of the shielding parameters show that the PP embedded with nBi₂O₃ gives better attenuation than its counterpart, PP embedded with mBi₂O₃, at all studied energies.