Duel-energy Computed Tomography (CT) imaging has the potential to better characterize materials. DE CT images would allow for a more accurate identification of tissues present in the human anatomy. The presence of highdensity elements (e.g. region of the shoulder, posterior fossa, metallic inserts, etc.) in the scanned subject causes deterioration of the CT image quality (e.g. beam-hardening artifacts). The polychromatic nature of the X-ray beam used in CT scanners is the origin of some image artifacts. In this work, we propose a physics-rich polychromatic projection model that uses the spectrum information, the detector response, the filter geometry and a calibration curve. This model is embedded in an iterative reconstruction algorithm, and inherently reduces beam-hardening artifacts. With dual-energy acquisitions, one can reconstruct quantitative images, with effective atomic number, and electron density information. Besides that, various reconstructions techniques are explored, so high-quality images can be obtained with less artifacts, ultimately, improving the characterization and identification of elements in the image.