Effect of elevated temperature on radiation shielding properties of cement and geopolymer mortars including barite aggregate and colemanite powder

This study aims to investigate the radiation shielding efficiency of cement and geopolymer-based mortars after exposure to elevated temperatures which may happen during the activation process of nuclear reactors. To contribute to the shielding properties, these binders were modified with the substitution of colemanite powder (5 and 10%), and barite aggregate was used to be an alternative to silica sand, as well. The produced specimens were exposed to 300 and 500 °C. While the colemanite powder resulted in significant retardation of setting time up to 183% for cement-based series, a set accelerator effect reaching 67% was found in the geopolymer series. Unlike expectation, the losses in mechanical and shielding properties have become more pronounced in geopolymer mortars at the applied temperatures. In particular, a significant increase reaching 28% in compressive strength of cement series was found after 300 °C exposure. It was noted that cement series with reaching a linear attenuation coefficient of 0.162 cm−1 presented more effective shielding against gamma rays when compared to that (0.134 cm−1) of geopolymers. To moderate thermal neutrons, geopolymer series reaching a linear attenuation factor of 2.799 cm−1, were found to be a more promising alternative according to cement series reaching 2.140 cm−1.