Modified lead borosilicate glasses as gamma rays barriers

Abstract EN

Developed glassy materials in the chemical composition of x PbO –20 SiO2 –10 Na2O – (70 - x) B2O3 where x = 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 mol %, have been prepared using conventional melt quenching techniques.

The different shielding properties were theoretically evaluated as a function of PbO content and gamma ray energy.

The WinXCom computer program (version 3.1) and the Auto Zeff program (version 1.7) were used to calculate the mass attenuation coefficients () and the effective atomic numbers () respectively in a wide range of γ-photon energies.

The mean free path was calculated based on the obtained data.

The results reflected that the increase of PbO content improves the studied properties of the glass samples up to 60 mol %.

Hence, the reported glassy system can find applications in the areas of nuclear radiation shielding