The Impact of CdO on the Radiation Shielding Properties of Zinc-Sodium-Phosphate Glass Containing Barium
Abdelmoneim Saleh, Raed Elshazly, H. A. Abd El-Ghany
Abstract
Glass series of chemical composition 40P2O5-5Na2O-(35–x)ZnO-xCdO-20BaO where, (x = 0, 7.5, 15, 22.5 mol.%) have been prepared by the conventional melt-quenching technique. The shielding characteristics against gamma rays, fast, and slow neutrons have been investigated. The mass attenuation coefficient of the prepared glass samples for gamma rays (μm) were determined experimentally at nine energy lines (ranged from 121.8 to 1407.9 keV) emitted from three different γ-rays’ radioactive sources. The measured values of (µm) were compared with those estimated using MCNP5 code and calculated by WINXCOM software. A good agreement between both experimental and calculated values of µm is observed. The half value layers (HVL), mean free path (MFP), effective atomic number (Zeff), effective electron density (Nel), and radiation protection efficiency (RPE) were deduced. The results reveal the practicality of using the present glass composition as an effective agent for gamma-rays radioprotection. On the other hand, the macroscopic cross section (∑) of slow neutrons, total slow neutrons, and neutrons with energy > 10 keV at different CdO contents have been determined under good experimental geometric condition. The results indicate a successive improvement of the shielding properties against fast and slow neutrons by increasing CdO concentrations. The effect of CdO addition is clear through the interaction of slow neutrons with cadmium nuclei inside the samples up to 15% which considered optimum CdO percentage in the glass barriers to be used as good neutrons filter.