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. 2026 Jan 12;16(1):4415.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-34418-0.

First-principles simulation of radiation shielding performance in TaS2-HDPE composites using Geant4

S Alsalmi  1 , R A B Alraddadi  2
Affiliations

First-principles simulation of radiation shielding performance in TaS2-HDPE composites using Geant4

S Alsalmi et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

High atomic number (Z) fillers in polymer matrices provide lightweight alternatives to conventional radiation shielding. Previous studies have examined fillers such as CdO, [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text]. However, no prior work has investigated tantalum disulfide ([Formula: see text]) in polymer composites for gamma-ray shielding, leaving a clear gap in the literature. Here, we report the photon attenuation performance of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) composites containing 10-50 wt% [Formula: see text] over 0.06-2.0 MeV, evaluated by Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations and validated with XCOM data. At 80 keV, where enhancement is most pronounced, the 50 wt% composite achieved a mass attenuation coefficient of 2.88 ± 0.04 [Formula: see text]/g, corresponding to a 15.9 ± 0.21 improvement over pure HDPE. Composites with 35, 20, and 10 wt% [Formula: see text] showed enhancements of 11.55 ± 0.05, 7.07 ± 0.03, and 4.04 ± 0.02 times, respectively. Benchmarking against micro-CdO-HDPE confirmed competitive or superior attenuation across the photon spectrum. These results establish TaS2-HDPE as a tunable, non-toxic, and effective candidate for next-generation radiation shielding applications.

Keywords: Gamma-ray shielding; Geant4 simulation; Mass attenuation coefficient; Monte Carlo method..

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Attenuation-related results for HDPE composites with varying TaS2 content: (a) Mass attenuation coefficients (MAC), (b) effective atomic number (formula image), (c) mean free path (MFP), and (d) half-value layer (HVL). For reference, XCOM-derived data for ordinary concrete are included in (a), (c), and (d).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Radiation protection efficiency (RPE) of pure HDPE and HDPE composites containing 10–50 wt% TaS2 as a function of photon energy.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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