Comparative investigations of gamma and neutron radiation shielding parameters for different borate and tellurite glass systems using WinXCom program and MCNPX code

Abstract

In the present article, for different chemical compositions of B2O3‒Bi2O3, B2O3‒Sb2O3, B2O3‒WO3‒La2O3, B2O3‒MoO3‒ZnO, and TeO2‒MO (M = Mg, Ba, and Zn) glasses, by applying WinXCom program we calculated the mass attenuation coefficient (μ/ρ) values, and from these values, the effective atomic number (Zeff), electron density (Ne), mean free path (MFP), half-value layer (HVL), and exposure buildup factor (EBF) values using Geometric progression (G‒P) fitting method, including macroscopic effective removal cross-section (ΣR) values for fast neutrons are evaluated for their potential applications as γ-ray and neutron radiation shielding materials. Moreover, the μ/ρ values of all the studied different glass compositions were computed using MCNPX simulation code and compared with WinXCom results. BBi65 glass has the highest μ/ρ, and Zeff values in the B2O3‒Bi2O3 glasses and lower values of MFP, HVL, and EBF. The maximum values of μ/ρ and Zeff are recorded for BSb70 in the B2O3‒ Sb2O3 glasses. It is found that the Zeff for B2O3‒Bi2O3 glasses is higher than those for B2O3‒ Sb2O3 glasses, which reveal that the B2O3‒Bi2O3 glasses have better shielding properties than the B2O3‒Sb2O3 glasses. The μ/ρ values of B2O3‒WO3‒La2O3 glasses are higher than those B2O3‒MoO3‒ZnO glasses, which indicate that B2O3‒WO3‒La2O3 glasses show preferable radiation shielding effectiveness comparing with B2O3‒MoO3‒ZnO glasses. The variation of different shielding parameters for the selected glasses was discussed according to the three photon interactions with matter (Photoelectric effect, Compton scattering, and pair production). The calculated μ/ρ and Zeff for the selected glasses have been compared with different glasses. HVL values are compared with ordinary, hematite-serpentine, ilmenite, steel-scrap and ilmenite-limonite concretes. It is found that ΣR values for B2O3‒Bi2O3, B2O3‒Sb2O3, B2O3‒WO3‒La2O3, B2O3‒MoO3‒ZnO, and TeO2‒MO (M = Mg, Ba, and Zn) glasses lie within the range 0.1312–0.2823 cm−1, 0.0876–0.0957 cm−1, 0.1180–0.1085 cm−1, 0.1066–0.1002 cm−1, and 0.1040–0.1075 cm−1, respectively.