BaO–Li2O–B2O3 glass systems: Potential utilization in gamma radiation protection

Abstract

In this work, MCNP5 code and Phy-X/PSD software were used to report different shielding parameters for the BaO–Li2O–B2O3 glass systems. The radiation shielding parameters were evaluated for photon energies between 284 and 2506 keV. The mass attenuation coefficient (μ/ρ) demonstrated a strong energy dependence at the low energy zone (284 keV<E < 662 keV), while having a weak energy dependence at high energies. The maximum μ/ρ is found for the glass sample with 40 mol% of BaO and is equal to 0.127 cm2/g at 0.347 MeV and 0.067 cm2/g at 0.826 MeV. The transmission factor (TF) was determined and the results show an increasing trend as energy increases, implying that more gamma photons can penetrate the BaLiB1 and BaLiB9 glasses at higher energies. For the glass with 40 mol% of BaO, the TF at 0.511 MeV lies within the range of 0.916 (when x = 0.25 cm) and 0.743 (when x = 0.85 cm). It was also found that the TF for BaLiB9 (the glass with 40 mol% of BaO) is lower than that for BaLiB1. The TF results showed that the greater the amount of BaO in the glass samples, the more efficient the sample will be as a shield. The tenth value layer (TVL) was observed to increase with increasing energy, reaching a maximum value at 2506 keV. The half value layer (HVL) data suggested that with an increase in the photon energy, a reduction in shielding occurs, improving the penetration of the photons through the BaLiB1– BaLiB9 glasses. The mean free path (MFP) values varied within the range of 4.046–11.208 cm for BaLiB1 and 1.631–6.814 cm for BaLiB9.