Abstract
Radiation has great significance in human life; it can be used in different fields such as agriculture, industry, medicine, and food sterilization. There are several methods to protect humans from gamma radiation; one of these methods is using shielding materials. Herein, ceramic SmBa2Cu3Oy materials doped with 0.0, 2.0, 5.0, and 10.0 wt% of lead oxide have been prepared and tested against gamma-ray. XRD analyses showed an orthorhombic structure of all ceramics with the presence of Pb-rich impurity in doped ceramics. The optical bandgap energy values were in the range of 1.54–162 eV. The Monte Carlo N-Particle transpose code was adopted to simulate the shielding parameters in the interval between 0.015 and 15 MeV. The shielding properties are enhanced by mixing SmBa2Cu3Oy with the PbO compound. The linear attenuation coefficient at 1.25 MeV increased from 0.219 cm−1 to 0.230 cm−1, with increasing the PbO concentration from 0.0 to 10.0 wt%, respectively.