Gamma-ray attenuation parameters of HDPE filled with different nano-size and Bulk WO₃

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) was obtained through a compression molding technique, and incorporated with different filler weight fractions (0, 10, 15, 25, and 35%) of bulk WO₃, and two different WO₃ nanoparticle sizes (45 nm and 24 nm). The radiation attenuation ability of the new category of polymer composite HDPE/WO₃ was evaluated using gamma-ray energies ranging from 59.53 up to 1332.5keV of four radioactive sources ²⁴¹Am, ¹³³Ba, ¹³⁷Cs, and ⁶⁰Co. The mass attenuation coefficients μ_m, the total molecular cross-section σ_mol, the effective atomic cross-section σ_atom, the total electronic cross-section σ_el, the effective atomic number Z_eff, electron density N_eff, the half value layer (HVL), the tenth value layer (TVL), and the relaxation length were investigated. The obtained results of the gamma-ray attenuation parameters exhibited an outstanding influence of the size and weight fraction of WO₃ filler on the gamma-ray shielding ability of the HDPE composite. A significant improvement was detected at low gamma-ray energies. The HVL of the synthesized HDPE composites is compared with that of pure lead as a conventional shielding material. HDPE composite filled with the smaller size of WO₃ nanoparticle shows good improvement in the attenuation parameters, which suggests promising applications in radiation protection and gamma-ray shielding.