Exploring the radiation shielding efficiency of low-impact Portland cement pastes made with barium sulfate, silica fume and fly ash<i></i>
The scope of this work is the development of new composites with low environmental impact to act as radiological shielding in hospital environments. For this purpose, the radioprotection properties of cement pastes containing 20% BaSO4, in addition to 10% fly ash and silica fume as SCM’s were investigated. The samples were characterized by consistency, apparent density and mechanical strength at 7 and 28 days of age. In addition, transmission measurements were performed for different sample thicknesses using a photon beam from a linear accelerator operating at 6 and 10 MV in a radiotherapy room. The barium pastes showed a reduction in sample thickness of approximately 10% compared to the reference paste (without barium) at the highest voltage analyzed to attenuate 90% of the incident radiation (according to current legislation). Among the SCM’s, silica fume stood out as the most suitable substitute when combined with barium in Portland cement matrices. Finally, the apparent density of the samples appears to be decisive for the performance of new materials in terms of radiological shielding.
Authors
- Cláudio de Souza Kazmierczak (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7552-3867)
- Everton Granemann Souza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9884-6626)
- Marlova Piva Kulakowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7661-3909)
- Maikon Moreira de Pires (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0231-9555)
- Maurício Mancio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0736-7249)
- Francisco Roger Carneiro Ribeiro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8790-3023)
- Chiara das Dores do Nascimento (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6028-9852)
- Henrique Trombini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7254-4774)
- Larissa Carine Sobreira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3887-8527)
- Isadora Zucchi Maia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2205-5901)
- Romulo Rocha Santos
Institutions
- Universidade Católica de Pelotas (BR)
- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (BR)
- Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre (BR)
- Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (BR)
- University of Health Sciences (SO)
- Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (BR)
- University of Health Sciences Antigua (AG)
- University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande Community College (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Brazilian Journal of Radiation Sciences
- Published
- 2025-01-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.15392/2319-0612.2025.2777
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Radiation Shielding Materials Analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.52
Funders
- Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico