XCOM and EpiXS evaluation of cosmic radiation shielding effectiveness of cerium oxide and bismuth oxide doped nanocoating for satellite applications
Abstract
We investigated a potential coating material that incorporates cerium and bismuth oxides in a polymer matrix. Radiation shielding parameters, such as mass attenuation coefficient, mean free path (mfp), and half-value layer (HVL), of this composite material with respect to various concentrations of cerium oxide and bismuth oxide in the vinyl ester matrix were calculated using XCOM and EpiXS. Results indicate that, compared to a bare polymer, the mass attenuation coefficient, measured at 1 GeV photon energy, increased by 109% when the composite has a cerium oxide concentration of 40% w/v. This confirms the performance of cerium oxide as good radiation shielding filler for higher energy ranges such as cosmic radiation.