Fly ashes from different sources, and geopolymers where fly ash is a major component, were analyzed for their gamma radiation attenuating capabilities. The different fly ashes and geopolymers containing fly ashes were assessed for linear attenuation coefficients at energies associated with Co-60 decay. Additionally, a design of experiments was employed to modify a fly ash-based geopolymer formulation to maximize attenuation by changing the quantities of components used in the formulation. The test results show that, despite coming from different sources and having different elemental compositions, differences between class C fly ashes provide marginal differences in linear attenuation coefficient relative to changing aggregate quantity, aggregate composition, and alkalinity. This led to the development of a heavyweight geopolymer through aggregate replacement, where fly ash does not need to be specifically sourced.

分析了来自不同来源的飞灰和以飞灰为主要成分的地质聚合物的伽马辐射衰减能力。评估了不同飞灰和含有飞灰的地质聚合物在与 Co-60 衰变相关的能量下的线性衰减系数。此外，还采用了一种实验设计来修改基于粉煤灰的地质聚合物配方，以通过改变配方中使用的组分数量来最大化衰减。测试结果表明，尽管来自不同来源且具有不同的元素组成，C 类飞灰之间的差异提供了相对于变化的骨料数量、骨料成分和碱度的线性衰减系数的边际差异。