Photon, neutron absorption capabilities of Y2O3-Al2O3-P2O5 glasses

Abstract

In this study, the shielding properties of (Y2O3)0.31 −z(Al2O3)z(P2O5)0.69, where , in glasses, have been examined to be applied in radiation protection applications. Therefore, we used the Monte Carlo simulation Geant4 code to simulate the mass attenuation coefficient for A, B, C, D, E, F glass samples prepared according to the formula (Y2O3)0.31 −z(Al2O3)z(P2O5)0.69. The obtained simulated mass attenuation (µm) results were compared with those obtained theoretically by the XCOM database within photon energies 0.03–2 MeV. The simulated µm results were found to be in good agreement with the XCOM received data. The linear attenuation coefficients(µ), the effective atomic number (Zeff), the effective electron density (Neff), half-value layer (Δ0.5), and mean free path (MFP) were calculated based on the simulated µm. The µm was decreased with the increase of photon energy, and with the increase of (mol%) fraction of Y2O3, and the decrease of (mol%) fraction of Al2O3. It is found that the F glass with 0.364(wt.%)concentration of Y2O3 has superior gamma-ray shielding effectiveness due to its higher values of mass attenuation coefficient, effective atomic number, and electron densities, and lower values of Δ0.5 and MFP. Also, in this work, the neutron shielding ability of the selected glasses was determined. The effective removal cross-section (cm− 1) was calculated by using the Monte Carlo simulation Geant4 code. Finally, it is found that the B Glass with 0.173 (wt.%)concentration of Al2O3has better neutron shielding properties than the other selected glass samples; due to it has the highest value of effective removal cross-section and has the lowest value of HVL at energy 1MeV.