Abstract:
With the development of science and technology, all kinds of nuclear radiation rays are more widely used, and the demand for radiation protection is also increasing. Moreover, with the deepening of radiation protection application scenarios, radiation protection materials need good environmental adaptability, mobility and wearability. Therefore, in this paper, two kinds of neutron/gamma composite shielding materials, B
4C/Bi/NR and Gd
2O
3/Bi/NR, were prepared by using natural rubber, which has excellent mechanical properties, as the matrix, bismuth as the gamma-ray shielding body, and boron carbide (B
4C) and gadolinium oxide (Gd
2O
3) as neutron-absorbing materials, respectively. A neutron test device was built with
252Cf as neutron source and
3He counting tube as detector to investigate the neutron shielding performance of the shielding materials, and the experimental results were verified by MCNP (Monte Carlo N Particle Transport Code), while the
252Cf shielding performance of the composite shielding materials was investigated by using MCNP simulation. High-purity germanium (HPGe) detector and universal testing machine were used for gamma shielding performance test and mechanical properties test, to study the filler type (B
4C and Gd
2O
3) and filler content on the composite shielding material gamma shielding performance and mechanical properties of the performance changes of the difference. The results show that the shielding performance of B
4C/Bi/NR and Gd
2O
3/Bi/NR against neutron
252Cf fission neutrons (slowed down by 12 cm thick polyethylene) increases gradually with the increase of B
4C and Gd
2O
3 fillings, while the shielding rate of Gd
2O
3/Bi/NR against neutrons tends to be stabilized when the Gd
2O
3 content is higher than 40 phr. The experimental results are mutually verified with MCNP. It is found that the transmission ratios of
252Cf fission neutrons within the composite homogeneous materials all satisfy the exponentially decreasing law, and the composites have the best shielding ability for
252Cf fission neutrons when the B
4C and Gd
2O
3 fillings are 80 phr, and the neutron reaction cross sections of B
4C/Bi/NR and Gd
2O
3/Bi/NR are 0.265 cm
−1 and 0.267 cm
−1, respectively. In addition, the shielding performance of B
4C/Bi/NR against 59.5 keV gamma rays decreases with the increase of B
4C addition, whereas the shielding performance of Gd
2O
3/Bi/NR against 59.5 keV gamma rays is enhanced with the increase of Gd
2O
3 content. The mechanical properties of the natural rubber decrease with the addition of B
4C, whereas the addition of appropriate amount of Gd
2O
3 (20 phr) helps to enhance the natural rubber’s. Gd
2O
3/Bi/NR composites have good neutron/gamma shielding properties and mechanical properties, which have potential applications as hybrid radiation field shielding materials.