Gamma-ray shielding properties of lanthanum doped barium zirconium titanate ceramic system

With the widespread applications of gamma radiation in the nuclear and medical fields, there has been growing concern about developing high-performance, lightweight, lead-free radiation shields. In the present study, the structural and gamma-ray shielding properties of three distinct materials: Barium Zirconate Titanate (BaZr 0 . 10 Ti 0 . 90 O 3 ), Barium Lanthanum Titanate (Ba 0 . 90 La 0 . 10 TiO 3 ), and Barium Lanthanum Zirconate Titanate (Ba 0 . 90 La 0 . 10 Zr 0 . 10 Ti 0 . 90 O 3 ) have been explored. X-ray diffraction patterns with Rietveld refinement confirmed the polycrystalline perovskite structures of all samples with Barium Zirconate Titanate (BZT), exhibiting a cubic phase, while Barium Lanthanum Titanate (BLT) and Barium Lanthanum Zirconate Titanate (BLZT) exhibit a tetragonal structure. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed dense microstructures with average grain sizes of 130.24 μm (BZT), 135.36 μm (BLT), and 146.49 μm (BLZT). Radiation shielding properties have been assessed computationally using the WinXcom software, evaluating parameters like mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), linear attenuation coefficient (LAC), half-value layer (HVL), exposure build-up factor, etc. The high density of the BLZT sample exhibited maximum MAC and LAC values for photon energy up to 15 MeV. The BLZT sample exhibits good performance towards the suppression of gamma rays with lower HVL values for 1.80 and 0.001 cm sample thicknesses, respectively, obtained at 8 MeV and 15 keV photon energies. The EBF values exhibit a fluctuating pattern across multiple mean free paths (MFP), with BLZT recording the highest value (10.8) at 10 MFP. For neutron shielding, the macroscopic effective removal cross-section (Σ R ) values remain roughly constant between 2 and 12 MeV. BZT outperforms BLT and BLZT with a Σ R value of 11.8, making it a superior base material for neutron shielding. Thus, the present investigation paves the way towards the development of potential applications of environmentally friendly lanthanum-doped Barium Zirconium Titanate ceramics in nuclear shielding and advanced diagnostics.