In this work, (Ni0.5Pb0.5Fe2O4) nano-ferrites has been prepared by a flash auto combustion technique, then new films of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) doped with x(Ni0.5Pb0.5Fe2O4) nanoparticles: x = 0 (PVC/PNF0) – 10 (PVC/PNF10) wt% have been fabricated. The nature, physical, linear optical as well as γ-ray attenuation capacity of the fabricated PVC/(Ni0.5Pb0.5Fe2O4) nanocomposites (NCs) sheets have been investigated. The crystalline state of (Ni0.5Pb0.5Fe2O4) NPs, and amorphous state of pure PVC, and PVC/(Ni0.5Pb0.5Fe2O4) films were performed by XRD measurements. The density (ρ) increased from 1.4451 to 2.613 g cm−3 for PVC/PNF0 and PVC/PNF10 sheets as the (Pb0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4) NPs content increased from 0 to 10 wt%. The direct band gap (Egapdirect) decreased from 5.259 to 2.969 eV, whereas Urbach energy (EU) increased from 0.439 to 4.812 eV. The index of refraction (n) for the fabricated films increased with increasing the concentration of (Ni0.5Pb0.5Fe2O4) NPs. The highest and lowest mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) values possessed at 0.015 and 15 MeV, respectively. The effective atomic number (Zeff) of the currently films followed the trend: (Zeff)PVC/PNF0  (HVL)PVC/PNF1 > (HVL)PVC/PNF3 > (HVL)PVC/PNF5 > (HVL)PVC/PNF10. The fabricated PVC/(Ni0.5Pb0.5Fe2O4) NCs films can be used in electronic, optical, and radiation shielding applications.

Understanding the chemical behavior and interactions of mono, di, and trivalent metal ions in highly acidic solutions is very important in trying to predict their sorption process onto polymeric materials. In this work, the efficient polymeric resin has been prepared by gamma radiation approach during copolymerization synthesis of poly sodium styrene sulphonate and crotonic acid through systematic investigation. An installment of different parameters was constructed including polymer concentration, radiation dose, and how it affects equilibrium water content (EWC- swelling degree). The prepared polymer was characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), and point of zero charges (pHZPC) analyses. The structure of such prepared co-polymeric resin analogous reaction was constructed. It was discovered that when the quantity of poly sodium styrene sulphonate increases, the copolymer forms more quickly and produces white crystalline materials. The sorption behavior of Fe3+, La3+ Ce3+, Eu3+, Sr2+ and Cs+ ions on the polymeric material was tested in a highly acidic aqueous solution taking into consideration the optimum solution pH, and initial metal concentration. The sorption ratio between different valence is challenging because of the competition of ion-specific, and binding saturation effects. Fortunately, in highly acidic waste, the synthesized polymeric resin exhibit higher removal efficiency for trivalent metal ions including Fe3+, Eu3+,Ce3+, and La3+ more than divalent Sr2+ and monovalent Cs+ ions with maximum sorption capacity 58, 56, 52, 48, 38 and 6.4 mg/g respectively. Finally, the synthesized polymeric resin P(SSS-Co-CA) is considered a promising sorbent for the selective separation of trivalent metal ions, especially in highly acidic solutions produced from acid digestion of real samples containing trivalent lanthanides.

The yield of 211At is currently limited by the restriction of the incident He2+-beam energy of the 209Bi(α,2n)211At reaction to ≈28 MeV avoiding the co-production of 210At with its daughter 210Po through 209Bi(α,3n)210At. In parallel, 210Po is directly produced as well through the 209Bi(α,x)210Po reaction at a energies as low as 26.7 MeV. Cross-sectional data predict a significant increase of the 211At-yield at higher energies indicating that this approach warrants optimization. The strategy of using higher energies means that potential solutions to handle 210Po during production, target processing and labelling, including the potential 210Po-related toxicity in (pre-) clinical studies have to be studied. Here we present the results of the 210Po quantification after a non-destructive target characterization.Two 25 μm thick Bi targets were irradiated at the Scanditronix MC 32, Rigshospitalet Copenhagen at 28.8 MeV and 29.8 MeV. For both targets the theoretical yield of 211At, 210At and the directly produced 210Po was estimated in a 25 layered 1 μm Bi model using the available cross-sectional data. The 211At and 210At yields were measured with a HPGe-detector 30 min post EOB. After sufficient decay Pb foils and a210Po calibration source were used to calibrate an iQID α-camera and an AMBER α-spectrometer prior to the non-destructive quantification of 210Po.Calculations predict a 28% and 1600% increased yield per μA of respectively 210At and 211At for targets irradiated at 28.8 and 29.8 MeV respectively. At the same time the 210Po activity increased by 350% up to a total activity of 24.14 kBq from which 60% is attributable to the direct reaction.Measured 211At and 210At activities show an increase of 49% and 1900% per μA for the 29.8 MeV target whereas quantification of 210Po with both α-detection systems validates the predicted activities.The results obtained in this study confirm a significantly increased yield of 211At at higher incident He2+- beam energies but also indicate the importance of directly produced 210Po, which impacts the assessment of 210Po prior to target processing.

PurposeThe goal of this study was to calculate the organ doses, effective doses, and cancer risk from head and neck computed tomography (CT) scans.Material and methodsAll patients underwent topogram, base, and cerebrum sequences during their head and neck examinations. Two techniques were used to determine the effective dose (ED). The first was based on the scanner derived dose length product, while the second involved using the software that calculated the organ and effective doses. Organ doses were computed using the tissue weighting factors from Report 103 by the International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP). The cancer risk values were calculated using web-based software that is based on the BEIR VII Phase 2 report.ResultsThere were 293 patients in this study (189 males, 104 females). The overall mean effective dose in the females was higher than that in the males (2.19 vs. 2.06 mSv). Male patients had a mean cancer risk of 0.011%, whereas female patients had a mean cancer risk of 0.015%. The younger females had much higher cancer risk values.ConclusionThe findings of this study will assist physicians in justifying and optimizing dose administration of head and neck CT examinations by weighing the benefits of diagnosis on the one hand and awareness of cancer risk on the other.

In this paper we deal with the problem of predicting a steady-state neutron spectrum in media of arbitrary composition and geometry. The analytical calculations of such spectrum are often too complex, if at all possible. We describe a method of Geant4-based Monte Carlo calculation of the steady-state neutron spectrum in a medium containing a fixed neutron source. In addition to the steady-state spectrum, we obtain the snapshots of the neutron spectrum evolution in time, which may be thought of as the non-equilibrium neutron spectra, and their form is of considerable interest for further studies.

Metallic nanoparticles are promising agents for increasing the effectiveness of radiation therapy by making cells more sensitive to radiation. High atomic number nanoparticles generate low-energy secondary electrons that initiate a cascade of physical and chemical reactions, which can lead to enhanced cell damage and tumor control. However, despite the growing interest in this area, a comprehensive understanding of the biological consequences of these reactions remains elusive due to the lack of experimental data. To address this gap, the Geant4-DNA track structure code has been used for modeling the interactions of radiation with matter at the molecular and cellular levels. The Geant4-DNA track structure code an extension of the Geant4 simulation toolkit designed for modeling the interactions of radiation with biological systems with high precision. Since the Geant4-DNA code is broadly applied for radiosensitization simulations, the authors were motivated to conduct a review of the literature and provide a comprehensive information on the current status of nanoparticle radiosensitization simulations using Geant4-DNA.This review aims to analyze and categorize the existing knowledge, identify key findings, research gaps, and challenges, and provide recommendations for future research in this area. A comprehensive search for the articles that used Geant4-DNA for nanoparticle radiosensitization was performed. A total of 50 studies met the inclusion criteria, and their simulation data and major findings are extracted. According to the literature, despite the significant contribution of the Geant4-DNA code, validating simulation results against experimental data is a primary challenge because there are limited experimental studies available. In addition, detailed modeling of nanoparticle radiosensitization require an accurate depiction of the cellular microenvironment and incorporation of chemical and biological reactions, which, in turn, demands the utilization of high-performance computers. Our analysis of the literature also reveals that most current studies are focused on gold nanoparticles with cellular distribution, and photon or proton radiations. This could emphasize the need for future research to consider other potential metallic nanoparticles in combination with various particle irradiations as well as utilization of high performance computers.

We have investigated monazite crystals, known to experience lattice distortions due to alpha particle emission from their atomic nuclei. Our aim in this investigation is to study the complex relationship between the lattice parameters and Raman spectra of monazite crystals. Through this study, we seek to understand the interdependency between these physical parameters and their influence on one another for an improved understanding of radiation-induced damage in these crystals. In addition to this, we also attempted to establish a correlation between these properties and their picometer-scale images to gain a deeper understanding of the structural changes that occur at the atomic scale. We conducted our study on four monazite samples withstanding intrinsic alpha decay radiation, denoted as M1, M2, M3, and M4, with crystal unit cell volume ranging from 299.961 Å3 to 301.96 Å3. Our Pearson statistical analysis revealed a correlation R2 (0.96) between the SCXRD-derived Ce–P Distance of monazite and the FWHM of PO4 band active mode in Raman spectra. This indicated lattice distortions due to alpha decay radiation impacting the Raman spectra. While Raman PO4 band broadening can be a consequence of impurities, dopants, and radiation damage, HRTEM scrutiny of the samples at picometer scales revealed the presence of point defects, plane rotation, and lattice distortions within the samples, suggesting the impact of alpha decay on the crystal lattice. HRTEM analysis has added additional confirmation that the major contribution to PO4 band broadening is due to alpha radiation damage in these samples. Through our study, we conclude a multiple-approach correlation is necessary to accurately study radiation damage dynamics at atomic scales.

Nanostructured thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) and their relevance in the field of Stimulated Luminescence has grown over the past years. Particularly, since preparation methods and characterization techniques have been improved, while their integration in technological advancements which has also significantly increased. Despite the numerous case studies dealing with applications and properties of nanomaterials, there is a limited number of studies investigating cases from a basic research point of view, like studying the transition of a material from bulk to nanoscale and the dominant features of this transition. Specifically, in Thermally Stimulated Luminescence or Thermoluminescence (TL), the extensive study via geometrical signal processing with the well-established techniques of Peak Shape Methods (PSM) and Computerized Glow-Curve Deconvolution (CGCD), and the estimation of trapping parameters of certain TL peaks, along with possible dependence of the activation energy of electron traps inside the crystal structure for different crystalline sizes, are missing from the literature. The present study includes several popular TLDs like BeO, LiF, CaSO4 and other more complex crystal structures such as NaLi2PO4, K2Ca2(SO4)3, LiNaSO4 and a geological Fluorapatite in different crystalline size fractions. Special emphasis has been devoted to the estimation of activation energies and the geometrical characteristics in the nanoscale by analyzing each TL signal accordingly. While the analysis imposes several interesting cases on the implementation of the results, the study has shown that under different crystalline sizes, most of materials follow a normal downtrend on their signal with some insignificant alterations on their physical parameters.

Quantitative provenance analysis studies are instrumental in understanding the tectonic and climatic processes that shape the earth's landscape. Although the most abundant mineral in the sedimentary system is quartz, almost all studies in provenance analysis investigate accessory minerals. Quartz crystals contain a vast number of point defects, intrinsic or due to impurities. For a signal to be an accurate indicator of provenance one needs to show that it is either dose independent or reaches a quantifiable steady state characteristic of the source rock. For signals used by trapped charge dating methods (optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and electron spin resonance (ESR)), the latter option is the feasible one. By using quartz samples collected from the Chinese Loess Plateau (Luochuan loess-paleosol section), we show that the laboratory and natural dose response curves of E'1 and peroxy electron spin resonance signals of quartz (as defined later) overlap and reach a steady state for doses over about 1000 Gy. For E′1 signals we attribute this steady state to reaching an equilibrium state between diamagnetic oxygen vacancies (the oxygen deficiency centre (ODC), Si=Si) and paramagnetic oxygen vacancies (E′1). For sedimentary quartz irradiated naturally or artificially in this dose range we show a strong linear relationship with zero intercept between E′1 and peroxy signals for samples worldwide, supporting the hypothesis that these defects are Frenkel pairs. Further, we show significant correlations between the optically stimulated (OSL) sensitivity and the above two mentioned ESR signals. The very strong correlations (Pearson's r >0.9) between E′1, peroxy and OSL sensitivity remain valid after the samples have been heated for 15 min to 350 °C for E′1 to reach its maximum value, believed to be a result of the conversion of diamagnetic oxygen vacancies to E′1, clearly suggesting a relationship between OSL sensitivity and oxygen vacancies in general. Samples collected from different loess sites around the world can be distinguished based on both these OSL and ESR properties. An empirical increase in OSL sensitivity as well as oxygen related defect concentrations is observed in areas where the source material has components with older detrital zircon U–Pb ages, inferring a positive correlation between OSL sensitivity, as well as the signal intensity for E1’ and peroxy defects and the age of the source rocks.

Polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) polymer films were exposed to ultra-violet light (UV–C light of wavelength 254 nm) in air for different exposure times varying from 1 h up to 6 h. These films were characterized by using ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), as well as powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. XRD scans reveal that the degree of crystallinity (Xc) increased from 4.7% up to 28.6% on increasing the UV exposure time from 1 h up to 4 h, and a further increase in the exposure time causes a decrease in its value. Analysis of the SEM images revealed an increase in particle size (chemically modified regions) on increased the UV exposure time of PVDC films from 1 h up to 6 h, and the maximum size of these regions were observed for an exposure time of 4 h. The SEM images showed a damaged PVDC surface, the formation of cotton-like fibrous regions, as well as many cracks due to the photo-degradation of polymeric chains. FTIR scans reveal the formation of hydrogen bonded hydroxyl groups as well as carbonyl structures in the PVDC sample on exposure to UV-C radiation. For the study of modification in band structure of the UV irradiated PVDC films, UV–Visible spectroscopy was used. It was found that the optical band gap decreases from 4.70 eV down to 3.92 eV, as obtained from the plot of √εihν versus hν. The penetration depth (δ) decreased from 0.0074 cm down to 0.0035 cm at 4.88eV, the energy corresponding to incident UV-C radiation. The calculation of percentage decrease in the value of δ with respect to wavelength and with variation in UV-C exposure time reveals that UV-C irradiated PVDC films are good radiation shields against both UV-A and UV-B electromagnetic radiation. The study of refractive index with respect to wavelength reveals that UV irradiation of PVDC films is an effective method to modify the refractive index of PVDC, thereby making the material more suitable for use in different optical applications. The optical dielectric constant was studied systematically, which indicated that the energy storage properties of the PVDC films can be tuned and tailored by UV-C radiation. Details are discussed.

Polycrystalline α-Al2O3 is irradiated using 100 MeV Au ion, with fluences range extended from 1 × 1012 to 1 × 1014 ions/cm2. The objective of this work is to study the impact of swift heavy ion (SHI) on structural and morphological properties of α-Al2O3 and confirm the predicted results with the help of thermal spike (TS) model. XRD result reveals that there is a decrease in peak intensities with an increase in ion fluence. The reduction of peak intensity indicates the increased disorder or defect formation in α-Al2O3 due to SHI irradiation. Further, PL results also corroborated with the XRD outcome. Information on damage formation and molten track radius is extracted from the XRD data, and the molten track radius is obtained to be ∼2.42 ± 0.13 nm. Morphological changes due to SHI irradiation are studied using FESEM and AFM techniques and reveal the increase of surface roughness with the SHI fluences. Furthermore, the radius of latent track formation and radiation-induced lattice temperature spike are estimated for SHI irradiated Al2O3 using three cases; elastic TS model (only Sn), inelastic TS model (only Se), and unified TS model (Sn + Se). The numerically calculated latent track considering the combined contribution of Sn and Se in the unified TS model is around 2.6 nm, which is in good agreement with the experimental determination. The present study investigates the overall performance of structural properties of Al2O3 for SHI irradiation and explains the radiation tolerance of ceramic for corresponding ion fluence.

PVA/CdS nanocomposites were obtained by forming cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoparticles at 1, 3, 5 and 10 cycles in the pores of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) by layered chemical sorption of anions and cations from a solution of the corresponding salts. A comparative analysis of the temperature-frequency dependence of the electrical properties of the original and gamma-irradiated samples was carried out. It is shown that the reason for the observed changes in the electrical properties of the initial PVA and PVA/CdS nanocomposites under the action of gamma radiation is a change in the ratio of crosslinking, degradation, and oxidation processes occurring in the matrix and at the polymer-filler interface with an increase in the absorbed dose.

Radiation is used in many applications such as medicine, therapy, industry but it also has some disadvantages or hazards. Therefore, the knowledge of how radiation interacts with matter becomes very important at different photon energies. In the present study, Compton mass attenuation coefficients of different types of materials were investigated via Klein-Nishina formula in the energy range 0.284–15 MeV. Different methods were used to determine Compton mass attenuation coefficients of the materials. The results were compared with each other in terms of the methods. According to the results, Klein-Nishina electronic cross-sections and Compton mass attenuation coefficients of the studied materials were decreased with increasing γ-ray energy like the elements. In addition, the results were compared with possible results from literature as the mean result of the study. A good agreement was observed for Zn, Sn, Te, Ba, W and Bi elements (Diff. ≤ 6.25%) at 1.173 MeV photon energy. Best agreement was also observed for ZnS and CaCO3 compounds (0.14% ≤ Diff. ≤ 22.18%) at 4 and 1.332 MeV photon energies respectively. The reported data should be useful when the gamma rays into these materials especially in Compton scattering energy region.

The sediments were collected from paleodunes, river terraces, islands, and sand bars at Mariuá Archipelago, Rio Negro, Brazil. XRD analysis revealed that quartz is the predominant mineral along with a trace quantity of kaolinite. Neutron activation analysis of the sediments revealed the assembly of rare-earth elements, metals and semi-metals. The values of U and Th were found to be 3–5 ppm in paleodunes and 9–16 ppm in terraces, and K-40 concentration is below detectable limit. The OSL of quartz (dune) is composed of three components with decay times of 0.2, 11.0 and 350 s, respectively. This OSL emission is related to the TL peaks below 380 °C. Also, photo-transferred TL is observed in the temperature range of 190–250 °C for a blue stimulation of 500 s. TL peaks kinetic parameters were calculated and discussed. The lifetimes of TL peaks at 272 and 355 °C are approximately 4.0×104 and 1.5×109 years, respectively. Using the conventional SAR protocol, 11 samples were dated, including two old paleodunes with ages of 124.4 and 169.7 ka, increasing the age interval of the site, the other samples were younger sediments, with ages between 0.39 and 53.9 ka.