Fabrication, optical characteristic, and nuclear radiation shielding properties of newly synthesised PbO–GeO2 glasses

Abstract

In this study, optical properties and nuclear protective efficiency of newly fabricated PbO-GeO 2 glass samples (GP) fabricated with different concentration of TiO 2 (0.2%, 0.5%, and 4%, in wt%) were investigated. PbO-GeO 2 glass samples have been prepared by the conventional melt-quenching method. Using optical absorption spectra, band gap and optical properties of the PbO-GeO 2 glass samples were evaluated. In addition, mass attenuation coefficient values of the fabricated glass samples were calculated in the energy range of 0.015-15 MeV using MCNPX simulation and the theoretical WinXcom program. In addition, several nuclear shielding parameters were calculated for gamma ray and neutrons such as half-value layer, mean free path, effective atomic number (Z eff ), exposure buildup factor, energy absorption buildup factor, and fast neutron removal cross sections (Σ R ). The results showed that glass sample with 0.2% of TiO 2 and with the highest density has an excellent nuclear radiation shielding ability for gamma ray, whereas the one with the highest TiO 2 contribution (4.0% of TiO 2 ) has a better protection against fast neutrons shielding among the produced glass samples. The results also showed a slight change for the E opt with TiO 2 concentration and the same applies to the refractive index. However, E opt tends to decrease when TiO 2 concentration increases and, consequently, the refractive index tends to increase.

Linear/nonlinear optical parameters along with photon attenuation effectiveness of Dy3+ ions doped zinc-aluminoborosilicate glasses

“…The term of mass attenuation coefficients (μ m ) of a shielding material is a particular quantity that may be used for classification purposes of shields depending on the LAC value [27,19,28]. Figure 10 depicts the variation of mass attenuation coefficient (μ m ) values versus incident photon energy (E) for glass samples, respectively.…”