Effect of WO3 on the attenuation parameters of TeO2–La2O3-WO3 glasses for radiation shielding application

Abstract

The attenuation capability of tellurite glasses with composition of (100-x)TeO2–5La2O3-xWO3 where x = 10, 15, 20, and 25% was analyzed. Radiation attenuation parameters such as mass, linear attenuation coefficients (MAC, LAC) and effective atomic number were determined at various energies. The S4 glass sample, which contains the highest WO3 content and smallest TeO2 concentration, has the greatest MAC at all energies. The glasses with the highest densities also have the highest LAC values, with greater WO3 content leading to greater density in the glass system. The half value layer (HVL) values of the samples are positively proportional with the energy of the incoming radiation, greatest at the highest tested energy. The ratio between the tenth value layer (TVL) values for S1 and S4 are greater than one at all energies, which means that S1's TVL, the glass with the smallest WO3 content, is higher than S4's TVL. The mean free path values were shown to have an inverse trend with the WO3 content in the samples. The S4 sample, the glass with the highest WO3 content and lowest TeO2 content, has the greatest Zeff at all energies.