Optical and gamma ray shielding behavior of PbO–B2O3–CuO–CaO glasses

Abstract

The melt quenching process have been used to fabricate the PbO–B2O3–CuO–CaO glass samples. The density increases with the inclusion of PbO to the samples. The optical band gap decreases as PbO mol% concentration rises. With the rise in PbO concentration, the refractive index, dielectric constant, and optical dielectric constant increase from 2.141 to 2.248, 4.583 to 5.052, and 3.583 to 4.052, respectively. The selected glass samples were found to be non-metallic in nature. The radiation shielding features were reported using EpiXS software from 0.122 to 1.458 MeV. The mass attenuation coefficient (μm) decreases as the sample constituent PbO is replaced with B2O3. The 50PbO–20B2O3–15CuO–15CaO glass sample, which is denoted by A4, has the highest μm in all photon energy. The radiation protection efficiency (RPE) drops dramatically while the energy increases from 0.122 to 1.458 MeV. The RPE of all glass samples is virtually 1 at 0.122 MeV, implying that they can all block all incoming radiation of 0.122 MeV. The prepared glasses possess promising radiation shielding properties. The largest relative reduction in transmission (RRT) values have been recorded to be 82% at 0.122 MeV. At low energies, the effect of PbO on photon transmission through the glass is significant, but as the energy increases, the effect of PbO on photon transmission decreases.