Research Progress of Neutron Shielding Materials

Abstract Neutron shielding materials are widely used in aviation, medical treatment, nuclear reactor and other fields. Neutrons is difficult to shield because of their high energy. With the development of neutron shielding materials, different kinds of shielding materials have been developed. Compared with other kinds of materials, composite material is an ideal candidate for neutron shielding material because of their outstanding physical and chemical properties. Therefore, a lot of researchers continue exploring and preparing novel composite neutron shielding materials to meet the complex working conditions. This paper summarized the research status of different neutron shielding materials in recent years, mainly including inorganic non-metallic based neutron shielding materials, polymer based neutron shielding materials, metal based neutron shielding materials, beside for composite shielding materials. Moreover, the existing problems in the research of shielding materials and the possible future development direction are put forward.