中子及伽马射线复合屏蔽材料的研究进展

Research progress of neutron and gamma-ray composite shielding materials

原子能工业的日益发展带来了核泄漏、核污染等安全隐患,人们必须采取严密的防护措施来保障涉核人员的身体健康和环境安全。众多核辐射类型中,中子和γ射线穿透性最强,屏蔽难度最大。然而,传统的中子屏蔽材料如硼、水、聚乙烯和伽马屏蔽材料如铅、铁、钨等屏蔽功能单一,屏蔽性能有限,有的热力学性能不佳,难以满足现代辐射防护的要求。在这方面,复合材料可以集中各原材料的优点,取长补短,使得综合性能和应用范围优于各原材料。目前,已有大量复合屏蔽材料被开发和应用。按照基体不同可分为:(1)聚合物基复合屏蔽材料;(2)金属基复合屏蔽材料;(3)屏蔽混凝土;(4)玻璃基复合屏蔽材料;(5)陶瓷基复合屏蔽材料。根据国内外复合屏蔽材料的研究现状,综述了近几年来复合屏蔽材料的研究进展,简要概述了中子和伽马射线与原子相互作用的原理,总结了每种类型的复合屏蔽材料的研究内容和特点,分析了目前复合屏蔽材料研究中有待解决的问题并展望了未来的研究趋势。

The increasing development of the atomic energy industry has brought about potential safety hazards such as nuclear leakage and nuclear pollution.People must take strict protective measures to protect the health of nuclear facilities staffs and environmental safety.Among the various types of nuclear radiation,neutrons and gamma rays have the strongest penetrability,which are the most difficult to be shielded.However,traditional neutron shielding materials such as boron,water,polyethylene,and gamma-ray shielding materials such as lead,iron,and tungsten have single shielding functions,limited shielding performance,or poor thermodynamic properties,making it difficult to meet modern radiological protection requirements.In this regard,composite materials can combine the advantages of various raw materials which can realize the complementary performance and expand application area of the radiation shielding materials.At present,a large number of composite shielding materials have been developed and applied.According to different substrates,it can be divided into five categories as follow:(1)polymer-based composite shielding materials;(2)metal-based composite shielding materials;(3)shielding concrete;(4)glass-based composite shielding materials;(5)ceramic-based composite shielding materials.In this paper,the mechanism of the interaction between neutrons and gamma rays and atoms is briefly summarized.The research progress of composite shielding materials,and the research content and characteristics of each type of composite shielding materials are detailed reviewed.In addition,the problems to be solved in the current research about composite shielding materials are pointed out and future research trends are predicted.