ZnO-B2O3-PbO glasses: Synthesis and radiation shielding characterization

Abstract

A group of glass samples of chemical formula (10ZnO-(40-x) B2O3-(50 + x) PbO) with x varying from 0 to 40 wt fractions were prepared by solid state reaction method. Amorphous nature of these glasses samples confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra. The density of the prepared samples was measured, and molar volume was calculated. The radiation shielding properties such as mass attenuation coefficient (μ/ρ), half value layer (HVL), tenth value layer (TVL), effective atomic number (Zeff), mean free path (MFP), and buildup factor (BEF) for the prepared glasses were evaluated in the energy range 0.015–15 MeV using XCOM program. Also, the mass attenuation coefficient has been calculated using Monte Carlo simulation (MCNPX code) at six energies (between 0.356 and 1.33 MeV) and the output results have been compared with those collected by XCOM. The MCNPX results match most of the XCOM data very well. The results showed that the mass attenuation coefficient of the prepared glasses is increased with the addition of PbO. ZBP5 glass sample has the highest effective atomic number while ZBP1 sample has the lowest. The radiation shielding properties for the prepared glasses were compared with some commercial window glasses and different types of glass systems.