Seval, Hakan KemalYagimli, MustafaTozan, Hakan2024-06-132024-06-1320241300-18841304-491510.17341/gazimmfd.1277335https://doi.org/10.17341/gazimmfd.1277335https://hdl.handle.net/11501/1368Purpose: This study aims to develop an economic and environmental -friendly, non-toxic boron -doped surface coating material that will provide protection against neutron radiation. Theory and Methods: Shielding is one of the three basic elements of radiation protection. Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is taking great attention in recent years due to its mechanical strength, low cost, thermal conductivity, and resistance to oxidation. Studies also illustrated that it has a high neutron shield performance. Characterization of the proposed coating materials which are formed by adding H-BN filler to polyvinyl butyral (PVB) matrix, was done using XRD and SEM. Radiation experiments were carried out with slow (thermal) neutrons in 241Am-Be isotropic neutron source. A slow neutron activation monitor was used for measurements and the nuclear reaction of the indium element was monitored as a neutron activation monitor. The resulting gamma spectra were evaluated with the Maestro -32 and Gamma Vision32 software. Results: Thermal neutron absorption coefficients (macroscopic cross section) of PVB coating materials formulated with h-BN additive at different ratios were calculated. A homogeneous dispersion was formed by the physicochemical interaction between H-BN and PVB molecules. The analyses of the results illustrate that the macroscopic cross-section value and the neutron radiation blocking feature increase as the ratio of the additive material is increased in the formulation. And also, all coating material samples project the ability to shield thermal neutron radiation. Conclusion: The coating material samples illustrated shielding performance by absorbing thermal neutrons at varying rates. The results of the analyses also possessed that, as the ratio of the additive in the coating material is increased, the neutron radiation blocking feature also increases. However, structural deteriorations are observed on the coating material when the amount of boron is more than 50% by mass. In addition to its easy applicability to various surfaces, the coating material also does not require complex manufacturing processes which provides a great advantage.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessNeutron Radiation ShieldSurface Coating MaterialHexagonal Boron NitrideDip-CoatingShielding Composite-MaterialEpdm RubberThermal InvestigationsRadioactivityConcreteGammaArticle23944238339WOS:001236221100012N/A