Nuclear Science and Techniques

《核技术》(英文版) ISSN 1001-8042 CN 31-1559/TL     2019 Impact factor 1.556

Nuclear Science and Techniques ›› 2020, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (2): 19

• NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY,RADIOCHEMISTRY,RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE •

Study on gamma-ray attenuation characteristics of some amino acids for 133Ba, 137Cs, and 60Co sources

Reza Bagheri1 • Ali Yousefi2 • Seyed Pezhman Shirmardi3

1. 1Northwest Research Complex (Bonab), Radiation Applications Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, Tehran, Iran
2 Materials and Nuclear Fuel Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, Tehran, Iran
3 Radiation Applications Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, Tehran, Iran
• Received:2019-09-21 Revised:2019-12-23 Accepted:2019-12-25
• Contact: Reza Bagheri E-mail:rzbagheri@aeoi.org.ir; reza_bagheri@aut.ac.ir
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Reza Bagheri, Ali Yousefi, Seyed Pezhman Shirmardi. Study on gamma-ray attenuation characteristics of some amino acids for 133Ba, 137Cs, and 60Co sources.Nuclear Science and Techniques, 2020, 31(2): 19
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Abstract: Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, which are the most abundant macromolecules in living cells. From the standpoint of the photon interaction cross sections of amino acids, the mass attenuation coefficients, half and tenth value layers, mean free path, effective atomic and electronic cross sections, effective atomic number, and effective electron density of fifteen essential amino acids have been determined for 133Ba, 137Cs, and 60Co gamma-ray sources. The MCNP-4C code and the XCOM program have been used to calculate these parameters. The results have been compared to the available experimental and theoretical data. The theoretical results agreed with the experimental data, with RD values of ≤ ± 7%. In the energy region of 81–1332.5 keV, it was found that the µm, σa, and σe values of the amino acids decreased as the photon energy increased, and the increasing density of amino acids had no steady effect on these quantities. Additionally, results demonstrated that the HVL, TVL, and MFP values increased with the increase in photon energy. The µm, σa, and Zeff values of aspartic acid were the highest among those of all amino acids, and they were the lowest for isoleucine. The Zeff value of each sample containing H, C, N, and O atoms was nearly constant in the studied energy region. The Neff values of the studied amino acids varied in the range of 3.14 × 1023–3.44 × 1023 electron/g. Furthermore, the Neff values were approximately independent of the amino acid type in this energy region.