Impact of CeO2 fillers on the low-energy gamma-ray's attenuation properties of epoxy-based composites: Experimental and Monte Carlo simulation evaluations

The current work deals with the fabrication of a new lightweight shielding material to protect against the low gamma-ray energies. The composites were fabricated according to the chemical formula of (65 + x) epoxy + 5 Fe2O3 + 5 CuO + (25 - x) CeO2; x = 0, 5, 10, and 15 wt%. The role of the replacement of CeO2 by epoxy resin on the shielding performance of the fabricated composites was examined. The high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector was used to achieve the experimental evaluation for the shielding parameters of the investigated composites along the energy interval of 0.081-0.383 MeV. Additionally, the Monte Carlo simulation method was used to affirm the experimentally measured shielding parameters. The experimental measurements confirm that the reduction in the CeO2 concentration from 25 to 10 wt% reduces the linear attenuation coefficient of the fabricated composites by ≈ 98% from 1.403 cm−1 (for E1) to 0.708 cm−1 (for E4). The mentioned data confirms that the reduction in CeO2 filler concentration decreases the shielding performance of the investigated composites.