Effect of lead oxide on the optical properties and radiation shielding efficiency of antimony-sodium-tungsten glasses

This paper reports the effect of lead oxide (PbO) on the optical properties and radiation shielding efficiency of Sb2O3-Na2O-WO3-PbO glasses. The optical properties of the glasses were tested by estimating molar refraction (R-m), molar polarizability (alpha(m)), metallization principle (M), optical transmission (T), dielectric coefficients (static and optical), and reflection loss (R-L). Additionally, the gamma radiation shielding efficiency of the glasses was evaluated via the Monte Carlo method (Geant4 simulations) and the XCOM program. The mass attenuation coefficient (mu/rho) and other related factors such as effective atomic number (Z(eff)), half-value layer (HVL), and mean free path (MFP) were calculated at the energy range of 0.25-1.25 meV. Furthermore, the dependence of radiation protection efficiency (RPE) on the thickness of glasses was discussed in detail. The results revealed that at 40 mol% of PbO, the optical transmission was 0.7774 and the reflection loss was 1.1997. A notable increase in RPE as the thickness of the glass changes from 0.5 to 2 cm. The gamma shielding efficiency of the glasses was compared with those of commonly used shields. The reported glasses showed superior properties to apply for radiation shielding applications.