Gamma photons attenuation features of PbO-doped borosilicate glasses: a comparative evaluation

This paper demonstrates the possibility of improving the gamma-photons attenuation traits of a new type of borosilicate glass system (x)PbO: 0.12B(2)O(3):(0.8-x) SiO2: 0.08K(2)O (where: x = 0, 0.05, 0.15, 0.3, 0.5 wt.) prepared using various doping concentrations of PbO. The mass attenuation coefficient (mu/rho) of the proposed glass system over the entire gamma-photon energy range (0.005-3 MeV) was improved due to doping(.) Glass with the highest doping concentration achieved the optimum values for mu/rho, mu, alpha(a), Z(eff) and N-eff. The lowest values of MFP and HVL for the glasses were observed in the mid gamma-photons energy region. In addition, the RPE values of the glasses were significantly enhanced with the increase in PbO content and reduced with the increase of gamma-photons energy. The computed values of various radiative parameters like mu/rho, mu, MFP, RPE, HVL, alpha(a), Z(eff.) and N-eff derived from XMuDat and XCOM programs were in good agreement with the theoretical values acquired using the Phy-X software. The proposed glass system may be useful as a high-performance radiation shield.

Automated summary

This paper demonstrates the possibility of improving the gamma-photons attenuation traits of a new type of borosilicate glass system through doping with various concentrations of PbO. The proposed glass system shows improved mass attenuation coefficient over the entire gamma-photon energy range, making it useful as a high-performance radiation shield.