Investigation of mass attenuation coefficient of almond gum bonded Rhizophora spp. particleboard as equivalent human tissue using XRF technique in the 16.6-25.3 keV photon energy

This paper reports the novel use of almond gum as a binder in manufacturing Rhizophora spp. particleboard. X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy was employed for analysis under photon energy range of 16.6-25.3 keV. Results showed that almond gum-bonded Rhizophora spp. particleboard can be used as tissue-equivalent phantom in diagnostic radiation. The calculated mass attenuation coefficients of the particleboards were consistent with the values of water calculated using XCOM program for the same photon energies, with p values of 0.056, 0.069, and 0.077 for samples A8, C0, and C8, respectively. However, no direct relationship was found between the percentage of adhesive and the mass attenuation coefficient. The results positively supported the use of almond gum as a binding agent in the fabrication of particleboards, which can be used as a phantom material in dosimetric and quality control applications.