Lead-free inorganic metal perovskites beyond photovoltaics: Photon, charged particles and neutron shielding applications

Over the last few years, lead-free inorganic metal perovskites have gained impressive ground in empowering satellites in space exploration owing to their material stability and performance evolution under extreme space environments. The present work has examined the versatility of eight such perovskites as space radiation shielding materials by computing their photon, charged particles and neutron interaction parameters. Photon interaction parameters were calculated for a wide energy range using PAGEX software. The ranges of heavy charged particles (H, He, C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Si and Fe ions) in these perovskites were estimated using SRIM software in the energy range 1 keV–10 GeV, and that of electrons was computed using ESTAR NIST software in the energy range 0.01 MeV–1 GeV. Further, the macroscopic fast neutron removal cross-sections were also calculated to estimate the neutron shielding efficiencies. The examined shielding parameters of the perovskites varied depending on the radiation type and energy. Among the selected perovskites, Cs2TiI6 and Ba2AgIO6 displayed superior photon attenuation properties. A 3.5 cm thick Ba2AgIO6-based shield could reduce the incident radiation intensity to half its initial value, a thickness even lesser than that of Pb-glass. Besides, CsSnBr3 and La0.8Ca0.2Ni0.5Ti0.5O3 displayed the highest and lowest range values, respectively, for all heavy charged particles. Ba2AgIO6 showed electron stopping power (on par with Kovar) better than that of other examined materials. Interestingly, La0.8Ca0.2Ni0.5Ti0.5O3 demonstrated neutron removal cross-section values greater than that of standard neutron shielding materials - aluminium and polyethylene. On the whole, the present study not only demonstrates the employment prospects of eco-friendly perovskites for shielding space radiations but also suggests future prospects for research in this direction.