TY - JOUR JF - Int-J-Radiat-Res JO - Int J Radiat Res VL - 14 IS - 4 PY - 2016 Y1 - 2016/10/01 TI - Design and fabrication of high density borated polyethylene nanocomposites as a neutron shield TT - N2 - Background: Polyethylene composites including boron can be used as an effective neutron shield. Our investigation focuses on manufacturing borated polyethylene nano-composite. The purpose of this study is to design a radiation shield for use in both neutron and gamma fields. Materials and Methods: Borated polyethylene shields containing 2%, and 5% weight percentage of Boron nano-particles were constructed and their neutron attenuation was compared with pure polyethylene. Polycarbonate films were used to find the attenuation of Am-Be neutrons after passing the shields. Mechanical properties of the shields were finally compared. Results: Mean (± SD) number of α tracks induced by neutrons passing through the shields, were found to be 1.0488×103±128.98, 1.1972×103±289.56and 1.5340×103±206.52 for polyethylene with 5% by weight, polyethylene with 2% by weight boron nano-particles, and pure polyethylene, respectively. The neutron spectrum after each shield was also obtained by MCNP4C Monte Carlo simulations. On the other hand, borated polyethylene nano-composites showed higher tensile strength compared to that of pure polyethylene. Attenuation of neutrons measured in experiments and the result of MCNP simulation were in good agreement. Conclusion: A statistically significant difference was found between neutron attenuation by borated polyethylene nanocomposite made of 5% by weight boron and pure polyethylene. However, the difference between borated polyethylene nano-composite with 5% weight and 2% wt boron was not statistically significant. SP - 379 EP - 383 AU - Mortazavi, S.M.J. AU - Kardan, M. AU - Sina, S. AU - Baharvand, H. AU - Sharafi, N. AD - Department of Radiology, School of Paramedical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran KW - Keywords: Nano-composites KW - neutron shield KW - borated polyethylene KW - MCNP. UR - http://ijrr.com/article-1-1825-en.html DO - 10.18869/acadpub.ijrr.14.4.379 ER -