Investigation of Gamma-Radiation Shielding Properties of Cadmium Bismuth Borate Glass Experimentally and by Using XCOM Program and MCNP5 Code

New glass systems of bismuth borate with various concentrations of cadmium oxide are prepared based on the melt-quenching method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) reveals a fully amorphous structure of the prepared glasses (S1-S4), and the UV-vis results display good transparency (>50%) in the visible and near-UV region. In addition, the radiation shielding properties (mass attenuation coefficient, half-value layer, tenth value layer, mean free path, effective atomic number, and electron density) of the new glass system are determined at selected energies experimentally and by using MCNP5 simulation code and XCOM computer program. Based on the calculated relative difference, the obtained values from MCNP5 and XCOMare in good agreement with the experimental data. The mean free path of the current systems (particularly S4) shows optimistic results when compared with the barite and chalcocite concretes.

Automated summary

New bismuth borate glass systems containing various concentrations of cadmium oxide were prepared using the melt-quenching method, showing good transparency and radiation shielding properties. Experimental results were in good agreement with simulation, with the mean free path of S4 system showing promising results compared to barite and chalcocite concretes.