Optical and gamma-ray shielding effectiveness of a newly fabricated P2O5-CaO-Na2O-K2O-PbO glass system

The glasses of composition of 40 P2O5 - 20 CaO- (30-x) Na2O - 10 K2O - x PbO and (x = 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mol%) (coded as PbP1, PbP2, PbP3, PbP4 and PbP5 for x = 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mol% respectively) were prepared. The physical properties and the optical properties have been studied and found to be affected due to the incorporation of the PbO. Also, FLUKA code was used for the investigation of the linear attenuation coefficients (LAC) for the PbP glass system and to report the role of Na2O and PbO on the radiation shielding parameters. The simulation was performed between 0.637 and 2.506 MeV. At 0.637 MeV, PbP1's LAC is equal to 0.181 cm- 1 and PbP5's LAC is equal to 0.337 cm- 1, while at 2.506 MeV, their LAC values are 0.092 cm- 1 and 4.538 cm- 1, respectively. At any energy, the LAC follows the order of PbP1 < PbP2 < PbP3 < PbP4 < PbP5. These results indicate that PbP5, the glass with the highest PbO content, has the greatest LAC at all tested energies, and thus the best shielding capability. The shielding effectiveness of the PbP5 glasses have been compared to that of the commercial shielding SCHOTT AG RS253, RS253G18, RS323G19, RS360 and RS520 glasses at 0.662 MeV. The PbP5 glass possess better shielding properties compared to the RS253, RS253G18, RS323G19 and RS360 commercial shielding glasses.

Automated summary

The study analyzed glasses with varying PbO content and found that the glass with the highest PbO content exhibited the best shielding capability at all tested energies, outperforming commercial shielding glasses.