Investigation of fast neutron shielding properties of new polyurethane-based composites loaded with B 4 C, BeO, WO 3 , ZnO, and Gd 2 O 3 micro-and nanoparticles

The aim of the current research was to study the radiation shielding properties of polyurethane-based shielding materials filled with B 4 C, BeO, WO 3 , ZnO, and Gd 2 O 3 particles against fast neutrons. The macroscopic cross sections of composites containing micro- and nanoparticles with a diameter of 10 µm and 50 nm were calculated using MCNPX (2.6.0) Monte Carlo code. The results showed that adding nano-scaled fillers to polyurethane matrix increases attenuation properties of neutron shields compared to micro-scaled fillers for intermediate and fast neutrons. Among the studied composites, WO 3 and Gd 2 O 3 nano-composites presented higher neutron cross section compared to others.