Synthesis and gamma-ray shielding efficiency of borosilicate glasses doped with Zinc oxide: Comparative study

Abstract

This study examined the suitability of several glass compositions as a gamma-ray shielding substance. The compositions tested were of varying ZnO concentrations, specifically (60-x) B₂O₃ − 10Na₂O − 15SiO₂ − 5Al₂O₃ - (x + 10 )ZnO (where X = 5, 10, 15 and 20 mol%). Measurements were performed at energy levels of 0.6642, 1.1776, and 1.3343 MeV radiated from Cs¹³⁷ and Co⁶⁰ point sources along with a scintillation detector [NaI(TL)]. We investigated the critical properties related to gamma radiation shielding, determining the effective atomic number (Z_eff), electron density (N_el), half-value layer (HVL), linear attenuation (µ) and mass attenuation (µ_m) coefficients, and mean free path (λ). Our results show that all glass compositions provide adequate protection against gamma radiation at the specified energy levels. The values of µ went up from 0.157 to 0.214 cm^− 1 (0.6642 MeV), from 0.119 to 0.160 cm^− 1 (1.1776 MeV), and from 0.114 to 0.151 (1.3343 MeV). For samples B1 and B4, the observed HVL values dropped from 4.41, 5.84, and 6.12 cm to 3.21, 4.31, and 4.61 cm at 0.6642, 1.1736, and 1.3343 MeV, respectively. Among the materials tested, prepared glasses show higher shielding capacity compared to regularly used glass and concrete samples. The study highlights these glass compositions' potential as practical materials that can shield gamma radiation.