Iron (III) oxide doped lithium borate glasses: structural and charged particles/photon shielding properties

Abstract

The elemental composition and surface morphologies of the (Li2B4O7) (100-x) - (Hematite) x glass samples (here x = 10,20, 30 and 40% weight) were acquired by SEM/EDX measurements. Using the EDX results, the mass attenuation coefficient (µ/ρ in units of cm2/g) of the glasses were generated with MCNPX simulation codes and calculated by XCOM software. Both results were matched by utilizing relative deviations. Next, Half Value Layer (HVL), Effective Atomic Number (Zeff), Mean Free Path (MFP), Exposure Buildup Factors (EBF), Energy Absorption Buildup Factors (EABF), Fast Neutron Removal Cross Sections (ΣR) and Relative Dose Distribution (RDD - for gamma and neutron) were calculated. Mass Stopping Power (MSP) and Projected Range (PR) values were calculated to examine the proton and alpha shielding properties of the hematite doped glass samples. According to the results obtained, µ/ρ, Zeff, and ΣR values increase as the percentage of hematite mineral in the glass samples increases. In addition, it was observed that HVL, MFP, EBF, EABF and RDD values decreased with increasing hematite percentage. The increase in the rate of hematite in the glass provided alpha and proton particles to have shorter ranges. Among the studied glass samples, lithium borate glass with 40% hematite mineral ratio is the sample with the best gamma, neutron and charged particles shielding features.