Evaluation of structural and gamma ray shielding competence of Li2O-K2O-B2O3-HMO (HMO = SrO/TeO2/PbO/Bi2O3) glass system

Heavy Metal Oxide (HMO) containing glass materials serve the purpose of radiation shielding owing to their optical transparency as well as radiation attenuation power. In this work, a glass system Li2O-K2O-B2O3-HMO containing various HMOs like SrO/TeO2/PbO/Bi2O3 was analyzed for the radiation shielding properties. The density of the synthesized glasses was relatively higher than the same HMO containing other glass systems. The X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) profile confirmed the amorphous structure of the synthesized glasses. The assignment of the vibrational contributions from the borate glass network was done using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. From the determined linear attenuation coefficient, transmission factor, mass attenuation coefficient (mu/rho), and half value layer of the glasses, it was reported that the Bi2O3 containing glass was more favorable for radiation shielding over SrO, TeO2, and PbO containing glasses. The radiation shielding performance of this glass was even superior to commercial glasses like Type A, Type B, and Rider, and comparable to the RS360 glass.

Automated summary

This study analyzed the radiation shielding properties of a glass system containing different HMOs, finding that the glass containing Bi2O3 was more effective for radiation shielding. The structure and vibrational information of the synthesized glasses were studied using techniques like XRD and FTIR.