New article published: V. 13 n. 1 (2025)
Abstract: 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. Read full article
