The present invention relates to utilizing atomic layer deposition (ALD) techniques to deposit a layer of boron compound in a light-weight composite carbon-based foam derived from natural precursors, graphene, or other carbon-based materials, to minimize the effects of radiation in space applications. A method of manufacturing radiation shielding material includes: preparing a carbon-based foam product in a predetermined volume; and doping the carbon-based foam product by depositing a boron or boron-10 aluminum oxide (B/B10—Al—O) compound using ALD in a vacuum chamber on either carbon-based foam or spherical silica particles prior to generating a carbon-based foam; wherein doping the carbon-based foam product includes depositing the boron10-Al—O compound at a thickness of between one and two atomic percent of boron-10 within the carbon-based foam or on the silica particles; or coating a percentage of average foam pores (50% of average foam pore diameter) of the carbon-based foam product with the boron10-Al—O compound.