Development of gadolinium doped calcium phosphate oxyfluoride glasses for X-ray shielding materials

Abstract

In this work, gadolinium calcium phosphate oxyfluoride glasses in the compositions of 10CaF2:xGd2O3:(90-x)P2O5 where x was the concentration of Gd2O3 at 5, 10 and 15 mol% have been prepared using melt-quenching method and investigated physical properties, optical properties and X-ray shielding properties. The density and molar volume of glasses were increased with increasing of Gd2O3 concentration. The optical spectra of the glasses show the high transparency in visible region. The X-ray shielding properties were studies at energy range 50-120 kVp. The results showed that the total mass attenuation coefficients increased with increasing of Gd2O3 concentration and decreased with increasing X-ray energy. The half value layer (HVL) and the tenth value layer (TVL) were decreased with increasing of Gd2O3 concentration and increased with increasing of the voltage, Lead equivalent thickness values increased with increasing of Gd2O3 concentration and show the two increasing trend with X-ray energy. These results indicating the potential of the prepared material as X- ray shielding material.