A unique Vietnam's red clay-based brick reinforced with metallic wastes for γ-ray shielding purposes: Fabrication, characterization, and γ-ray attenuation properties

A unique brick series based on Vietnamese clay was manufactured at 114.22 MPa pressure rate for γ-ray attenuation purposes, consisting of (x) metallic waste & (90%-x) red clay mineral & 10% (hardener mixed with epoxy resin), where (x) is equal to the values 0%, 20%, 40%, 50%, and 70%. The impacts of industrial metal waste ratio in the structure and radiation protective characteristics were evaluated experimentally. The increase in metallic waste doping concentrations from 0% to 70% was associated with an increase in the manufactured brick's density (ρ) from 2.103 to 2.256 g/cm3 while the fabricated samples' porosity (Φ) decreased from 11.7 to 1.0%, respectively. Together with a rise in fabricated brick's density and a decrease in their porosities, the manufactured bricks' γ-ray attenuation capacities improved. The measured linear attenuation coefficient (μ, cm−1) was improved by 30.8%, 22.1%, 21.6%, and 19.7%, at Eγ equal to the values respectively 0.662, 1.173, 1.252, and 1.332 MeV, when the metallic waste concentration increased from 0% to 70%, respectively. The study demonstrates that manufactured bricks exhibit superior radiation shielding properties, with radiation protection efficiencies of 88.4%, 90.0%, 91.7%, 92.1%, and 92.4% for bricks with industrial metal waste contents of 0%, 20%, 40%, 50%, and 70%, respectively, at γ-ray energy (Eγ) of 1.332 MeV.