Structural, morphological, and optical properties of sol-gel derived ZnO and ZnO:Cu and its application as a gamma ray attenuator

Pristine and copper doped zinc oxide nanostructures have been afforded by a simple and easy to access sol-gel method. Their common properties were examined through the standard analyzing methods. X-ray diffraction results vouched the hexagonal structure of zinc oxide; even though, the insertion of copper changed the zinc oxide structure to some extent. FESEM achievements illustrated the nanosized quasi-spherical grains and the agglomeration of them. The protection factors against gamma rays, including mean free path (MFP), mass attenuation coefficients (MAC), linear attenuation coefficients (LAC), transmission Factor (TF), tenth value layer (TVL), half value layer (HVL) and radiation protection efficiency (RPE) were calculated. According to these factors, it can be concluded that the use of ZnO, and ZnO-Cu (10 % and 20 %) as a shielding for gamma ray can be valuable. For a more complete review, a simulation survey through GEometry ANd Tracking (GEANT4) code was applied to compare the protecting parameters.