(59.5–x) P2O5–30Na2O–10Al2O3–0.5CoO–xNd2O3 glassy system: an experimental investigation on structural and gamma-ray shielding properties

Abstract

In this study, five different glasses encoded ND1, ND2, ND3, ND4 and ND5 based on (59.5–x) P2O5–30Na2O–10Al2O3–0.5CoO–xNd2O3 (x = 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 mol%) glass system were fabricated. Using two γ- ray energies emitted from point sources, 356 keV (133Ba) and 662 keV (137Cs), γ-ray attenuation coefficients were measured as a function of the Nd2O3 concentration. The theoretical values of the mass attenuation coefficient were calculated using the XCOM program at 0.015–15-MeV photon energies. As it is underlined in the results section, the mass attenuation coefficient increases as the Nd2O3 concentration increases. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was characterized for fabricated glasses. Moreover, different shielding parameters such as half-value layer (HVL), mean free path (MFP), effective atomic numbers (Zeff), basic gamma-ray attenuation properties such as exposure buildup factors (EBF) and energy absorption buildup factors (EABF) at different penetration depths were calculated. With increasing Nd2O3 additive in glass samples, half-value layer (HVL), average free path (MFP), exposure and energy absorption buildup factor (EBF and EABF) values decrease. On the other hand, Zeff values increase with increasing Nd2O3 additive in glass samples at the photon energy 0.015–15 MeV. The results highlighted that ND5 sample with highest value of Nd2O3 (5 mol%) showed excellent nuclear radiation shielding properties.