https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-026-07831-1
Regular Article
Boosting the structural and γ-ray attenuation properties of calcinated clay with the incorporation of granite powder: an experimental investigation
1
Ural Federal University, St. Mira, 19, 620002, Yekaterinburg, Russia
2
Department of Physics, College of Sciences, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), 11623, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
3
Department of Physics, Dogus University, Dudullu-Ümraniye, 34775, Istanbul, Türkiye
a
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Received:
23
September
2025
Accepted:
13
May
2026
Published online:
31
May
2026
Abstract
The current work seeks to fabricate anew cost-effective and lead-free radiation shielding calcinated clays for γ-ray protection applications according to the chemical formula (85-x) wt% clay + 15 wt% boric acid (H3BO3) + x granite powder; x = 0, 10, 15, 20, 35, and 50 wt%. The impact of the substitution of granite powder for the Iraqi clay on the structural and γ-ray shielding performance of the prepared calcinated clays was investigated experimentally. The crystallographic structure for the fabricated calcinated clays was identified utilizing the X-ray diffraction method over a 2-theta interval varied from 10° to 80°. Additionally, the FTIR spectrometry was utilized to illustrate the new functional groups appears within the fabricated calcinated clays as a result of increasing the granite powder additive. Furthermore, the impact of the substitution of the granite powder for the clay on the structural parameters such as pore volume, bulk volume, porosity, water absorption coefficient, and density of the prepared calcinated clay was also investigated experimentally. The addition of granite powder to the clay was found to increase the density of the prepared calcinated clays, while the bulk volume, pore volume, porosity, and water absorption factor all decreased with the granite powder in the prepared calcinated clays. Additionally, the experimental measurements as well as the Monte Carlo simulation confirm the enhancement of γ-ray shielding performance as the granite powder increases within the fabricated calcinated clay composites.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2026
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
