Nuclear radiation attenuation and physicomechanical features for yttrium aluminum garnet/cerium zirconate composites

This study fabricates Nano cerium Zirconate and yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG)/cerium zirconate composites. The effect of adding different YAG contents (10, 20, and 30 mass %) to cerium zirconate on the sintering properties of the fabricated composite was investigated. The addition of YAG reduced the densification and increased the porosity of the composites in addition to reducing the mechanical properties of the fabricated materials. The potential of the fabricated ceramic composites for application as a nuclear radiation-shielding material was evaluated. The contribution of Ce2Zr2O7 substitution by the YAG system to gamma-ray attenuation behavior was investigated. “Phy-X/PSD code” was used to investigate the mass and linear attenuation coefficient, half-value layer, mean free path, tenth-value layer, effective atomic number, and effective electron density of [100 C], [10 YC], and YAG samples against gamma radiation. The “Phy-X/PSD” software revealed good consistency between the practical and theoretical explanations. The findings demonstrate that Ce2Zr2O7-containing specimens are suitable for radiation protection. The enhancement of the gamma-ray attenuation performance of YAG-doped cerium zirconate was attributed to the expansion of the sample’s K-edge absorbing area.