Uncovering the potential of ZnO and CaO in shielding and density enhancement for borate glass systems
M.I. Sayyed, Laith Ahmed Najam, K.A. Mahmoud, Berivan F. Namaq, Taha Yaseen Wais, Y. Maghrbi
Abstract
• A new transparent glass system was fabricated for γ-ray shielding applications. • The substitution of B 2 O 3 by ZnO and CaO increases the density of prepared glasses. • The shielding factors were examined based on the experimental measurements. • The replacement of B 2 O 3 by ZnO and CaO enhances the linear attenuation coefficient. In the current work, the physical and radiation shielding properties for a glass system composed of (65-x-y) B 2 O 3 + 10BaO + 10Na 2 O+(10 + x) ZnO+(5 + y) CaO; x = y = 0, 5, 10, and 15 mol% were examined experimentally. The density of the prepared glass samples was examined using the Archimedes method, where the density of prepared samples increased between 3.126 ± 0.066 g/cm 3 and 3.731 ± 0.076 g/cm 3 when the B 2 O 3 compound was partially substituted by ZnO and CaO compounds. Additionally, the narrow beam transmission method and a 2″ × 2″ NaI (Tl) scintillation detector were utilized to measure the γ-ray shielding ability of prepared glass samples over an energy range of 0.662–1.332 MeV emitted by the radioactive sources Cs-137 and Co-60. The experimental measurements were also validated using the Monte Carlo simulation method. The difference between the two approaches is ±5 %. The measurements depict an enhancement in the linear attenuation coefficient with increasing the B 2 O 3 substitution by ZnO and Ca compounds. The linear attenuation coefficient increases by 17.83 %, 18.30 %, 18.22 %, and 18.14 % at 0.662 MeV, 1.173 MeV, 1.252 MeV, and 1.332 MeV, respectively, as ZnO + CaO rise across the concentration of 15 mol%–45 mol%.