Assessment of radiation shielding capability of a high-density TeO2–Tl2O–Ag2O glass system: A simulation and theoretical studies

Abstract

We investigated the shielding properties of four selected glass samples among the 66 samples. These glass samples had the following compositions and densities: S1 (55TeO2+45Ag2O, density 6.28 g/cm3), S2 (55TeO2+5Tl2O+40Ag2O, density 6.37 g/cm3), S3 (50TeO2+15Tl2O+35Ag2O, density 6.49 g/cm3), and S4 (40TeO2+55Tl2O+35Ag2O, density 7.20 g/cm3). These glasses exhibit high density. We compute the mass attenuation and linear attenuation coefficients for these samples using MCNPX simulations and Phy-X software between 0.001 MeV and 15 MeV energy range. The derived mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) enables the calculation of key radiation shielding metrics. The tenth value layer, the half value layer (HVL), the mean free path (MFP), and the effective atomic number (Zeff) were also determined. Values of LAC values for S1, S2, S3 and S4 glasses span 244.91 to 0.24932 cm⁻1, 319.52 to 0.2625 cm⁻1, 447.24 to 0.28491 cm⁻1 and 379.480 to 0.273 cm−1, respectively. Correspondingly, HVL values range from 0.0028 to 2.78005 cm, 0.0021–2.6403 cm, and 0.00154–2.4327 cm and 0.002135–2.917403 cm for S1, S2, S3 and S4 glasses, respectively. Our findings reveal that results from both MCNPX and Phy-X exhibit consistency, supported by computed relative differences. Notably, the glass sample with a relatively higher TlO2 concentration demonstrates superior shielding properties across the entire energy spectrum. Importantly, these glass samples can significantly lower the strength of the x-rays and γ-rays.