Synthesis and Characterization of La2O3–BaO–Na2O–SiO2–Bi2O3 Glass as a Potent Shield Against Ionizing Radiation

Abstract

AbstractIn recent years, the scientific community has spent significant effort exploring radiation-shielding glass materials. The present work was conducted by synthesizing a glass series of 20La2O–10BaO –15Na2O–(55−x)SiO2–xBi2O3, x: 0, 5, 15, and 25 wt%. After producing the samples, in-depth studies were performed on the physical, optical, thermal, and radiation attenuation properties of the fabricated glass series. A radical color change from nearly neutral to dark-brown color occurred as Bi2O3 entered the glass network. The density values equaled 2.8324, 2.9511, 3.0992, and 3.3657 g cm−3 for LBSS1 to LBSS4 samples, respectively. According to XRD patterns, neither sharp nor moderate peaks developed; a hump-like formation between 20 and 35 degrees was visible in all glass samples. FTIR measurement revealed transmission as a function of varying wavenumber from 4000 to 400 cm−1 for the prepared glass specimens, and different bond types were noted. The UV–Vis technique removes it displayed that increasing Bi2O3 content blocked light transmission throughout the glass medium. The radiation-shielding parameters of linear attenuation coefficient (LAC), mass attenuation coefficient, transmission factor, and half value layer were calculated with experimental and MC simulation methods for all glass samples at six different energies between 356 and 1332 keV. The results were compared with the Phy-X database, and good agreement was obtained. The highest LACs were obtained at the lowest energy (356 keV) with values of 0.3108, 0.3455, 0.4471, and 0.5486 cm−1 for LBSS1, LBSS2, LBSS3, and LBSS4 glasses, respectively. The photon attenuation ability of the LBSS glasses increased by increasing the Bi2O3 ratio, especially at low energies. Therefore, the authors can conclude that future applications, such as observation window in CT rooms, may efficiently exploit LBBS4 glass system.