In the present study, the gamma-ray shielding performance of the epoxy polymer matrix has been tried to develop by loading the matrix with a natural stone named as Yahyali Stone (YS), The YS has been collected from the Fairy Chimneys of Kayseri, Turkey. The chemical composition of the YS, which has been analyzed by X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, revealed that the main components of the stone are Fe₂O₃ (75.28 wt%), SiO₂ (17.21 wt%), and Al₂O₃ (4.24 wt%). The Epoxy/YS composites that include 5 wt%, 10 wt%, 20 wt% and, 30 wt% YS have been prepared by mechanical mixing technique. The experimental setup contained a¹³³Ba, ¹³⁷Cs, and ⁶⁰Co point radioactive sources, which emit 81 keV, 356 keV, 662 keV, 1173 keV, and 1332 keV photons, and a NaI(Tl) detector. The gamma-ray shielding capability of the samples has been discussed in the context of mass attenuation coefficient (μ/ρ), half-value layer (HVL), and mean free path (MFP). The mass attenuation coefficient, HVL, and MFP have also been calculated by WinXCom software. The experimental and WinXCom software results have been compared and good consistency has been established between these results. Finally, the effective atomic number (Z_eff) and effective electron density (N_eff) have been calculated by using the interpolation method. In conclusion, it can be suggested that low cost, natural and non-toxic reinforcing YS material has a promising role in enhancing the radiation shielding ability of the epoxy matrix for low energy radiation applications.

在本研究中，已尝试通过在基质中加载名为Yahyali Stone（YS）的天然石材来开发环氧聚合物基质的伽马射线屏蔽性能。该YS是从土耳其开塞利的童话烟囱中收集的。通过X射线荧光（XRF）光谱分析的YS的化学成分表明，石材的主要成分是Fe ₂ O ₃（75.28 wt％），SiO ₂（17.21 wt％）和Al ₂ O ₃（4.24 wt％）。包含5wt％，10wt％，20wt％和30wt％的YS的环氧树脂/ YS复合材料已经通过机械混合技术制备。实验装置包含¹³³ Ba，¹³⁷ Cs和⁶⁰发射81 keV，356 keV，662 keV，1173 keV和1332 keV光子的共点放射源，以及NaI（Tl）检测器。在质量衰减系数（μ / ρ），半值层（HVL）和平均自由程（MFP）的背景下讨论了样品的伽马射线屏蔽能力。质量衰减系数，HVL和MFP也已通过WinXCom软件进行了计算。比较了实验结果和WinXCom软件结果，并在这些结果之间建立了良好的一致性。最后，有效原子序数（Z _eff）和有效电子密度（N _eff）是使用插值法计算的。总之，可以提出低成本，天然和无毒的增强YS材料在增强环氧基质对低能辐射应用的辐射屏蔽能力方面具有有前途的作用。