Trivalent Ions and Their Impacts on Effective Conductivity at 300 K and Radio-Protective Behaviors of Bismo-Borate Glasses: A Comparative Investigation for Al, Y, Nd, Sm, Eu

We aimed to determine the contribution of various trivalent ions like Al and rare-earths (Y, Nd, Sm, Eu) on resistance behaviors of different types of bismo-borate glasses. Accordingly, eight different bismuth borate glasses from the system: 40Bi2O3–59B2O3–1Tv2O3 (where Tv = Al, Y, Nd, Sm, and Eu) and three glasses of (40Bi2O3–60B2O3; 37.5Bi2O3–62.5B2O3; and 38Bi2O3–60B2O3–2Al2O3) compositions were extensively investigated in terms of their nuclear attenuation shielding properties, along with effective conductivity and buildup factors. The Py-MLBUF online platform was also utilized for determination of some essential parameters. Next, attenuation coefficients, along with half and tenth value layers, have been determined in the 0.015 MeV–15 MeV photon energy range. Moreover, effective atomic numbers and effective atomic weight, along with exposure and energy absorption buildup factors, were determined in the same energy range. The result showed that the type of trivalent ion has a direct effect on behaviors of bismo-borate glasses against ionizing gamma-rays. As incident photon energy increases, the effective thermal conductivity decreases rapidly, especially in the low energy range, where photoelectric effects dominate the photon–matter interaction. Sample 8 had the minimum heat conductivity at low photon energies; our findings showed that Eu-reinforced bismo-borate glass composition, namely 40Bi2O3–59B2O3–1Eu2O3, with a glass density of 6.328 g/cm3 had superior gamma-ray attenuation properties. These outcomes would be useful for the scientific community to observe the most suitable additive rareearth type and related glass composition for providing the aforementioned shielding properties, in terms of needs and utilization requirements.

Radiation attenuation properties of B2O3-ZnO-Al2O3-Bi2O3-Sm2O3 glasses

The goal of this study is to examine theoretically radiation absorption properties of zinc alumino bismuth borate (BZnAlBiSm) glasses with chemical formula 60B2O3-9ZnO-(30-x)Al2O3-xBi2O3-1Sm2O3 where x = 5, 10, 15 and 20 mol%. The linear and mass attenuation coefficents of BZnAlBiSm glasses turn out as this trend BZnAlBiSm-1<BZnAlBiSm-2<BZnAlBiSm-3<BZnAlBiSm-4. The BZnAlBiSm-4 with the smallest half value layers, tenth value layers and mean free paths in the examined energy ranges has the superior radiation shielding characteristics among the BZnAlBiSm glasses. The BZnAlBiSm-4 glass has the highest radiation protection efficiency among the BZnAlBiSm glasses. The transmission factors increase as photon energy range enhances from 0.015 to 15 MeV and thickness declines from 2.5 to 0.5 cm. The energy buildup factors and energy absorption buildup factors of BZnAlBiSm glasses reduce from 15 to 1 mfp. Variation of the effective atomic number and effective electron density as a function of photon energy for BZnAlBiSm glasses are similar. The projected ranges of electron, proton, alpha and carbon for the BZnAlBiSm glasses increase as photon energy enlarges. The fast neutron removal cross sections of the BZnAlBiSm glasses vary in order of BZnAlBiSm-4<BZnAlBiSm-3<BZnAlBiSm-2<BZnAlBiSm-1. Thus, it can be concluded that BZnAlBiSm-1 has the highest neutron absorption ability among the BZnAlBiSm glasses.

The Role of La2O3 in Enhancement the Radiation Shielding Efficiency of the Tellurite Glasses: Monte-Carlo Simulation and Theoretical Study

The radiation shielding competence was examined for a binary glass system xLa2O3 + (1 − x) TeO2 where x = 5, 7, 10, 15, and 20 mol% using MCNP-5 code. The linear attenuation coefficients (LACs) of the glasses were evaluated, and it was found that LT20 glass has the greatest LAC, while LT5 had the least LAC. The transmission factor (TF) of the glasses was evaluated against thicknesses at various selected energies and was observed to greatly decrease with increasing thickness; for example, at 1.332 MeV, the TF of the LT5 glass decreased from 0.76 to 0.25 as the thickness increased from 1 to 5 cm. The equivalent atomic number (Zeq) of the glasses gradually increased with increasing photon energy above 0.1 MeV, with the maximum values observed at around 1 MeV. The buildup factors were determined to evaluate the accumulation of photon flux, and it was found that the maximum values for both can be seen at around 0.8 MeV. This research concluded that LT20 has the greatest potential in radiation shielding applications out of the investigated glasses due to the glass having the most desirable parameters.

Detailed Inspection of γ-ray, Fast and Thermal Neutrons Shielding Competence of Calcium Oxide or Strontium Oxide Comprising Bismuth Borate Glasses

For both the B2O3-Bi2O3-CaO and B2O3-Bi2O3-SrO glass systems, γ-ray and neutron attenuation qualities were evaluated. Utilizing the Phy-X/PSD program, within the 0.015–15 MeV energy range, linear attenuation coefficients (µ) and mass attenuation coefficients (μ/ρ) were calculated, and the attained μ/ρ quantities match well with respective simulation results computed by MCNPX, Geant4, and Penelope codes. Instead of B2O3/CaO or B2O3/SrO, the Bi2O3 addition causes improved γ-ray shielding competence, i.e., rise in effective atomic number (Zeff) and a fall in half-value layer (HVL), tenth-value layer (TVL), and mean free path (MFP). Exposure buildup factors (EBFs) and energy absorption buildup factors (EABFs) were derived using a geometric progression (G–P) fitting approach at 1–40 mfp penetration depths (PDs), within the 0.015–15 MeV range. Computed radiation protection efficiency (RPE) values confirm their excellent capacity for lower energy photons shielding. Comparably greater density (7.59 g/cm3), larger μ, μ/ρ, Zeff, equivalent atomic number (Zeq), and RPE, with the lowest HVL, TVL, MFP, EBFs, and EABFs derived for 30B2O3-60Bi2O3-10SrO (mol%) glass suggest it as an excellent γ-ray attenuator. Additionally, 30B2O3-60Bi2O3-10SrO (mol%) glass holds a commensurably bigger macroscopic removal cross-section for fast neutrons (ΣR) (=0.1199 cm−1), obtained by applying Phy-X/PSD for fast neutrons shielding, owing to the presence of larger wt% of ‘Bi’ (80.6813 wt%) and moderate ‘B’ (2.0869 wt%) elements in it. 70B2O3-5Bi2O3-25CaO (mol%) sample (B: 17.5887 wt%, Bi: 24.2855 wt%, Ca: 11.6436 wt%, and O: 46.4821 wt%) shows high potentiality for thermal or slow neutrons and intermediate energy neutrons capture or absorption due to comprised high wt% of ‘B’ element in it.

Tailoring bismuth borate glasses by incorporating PbO/GeO2 for protection against nuclear radiation

Nuclear radiation shielding capabilities for a glass series 20Bi2O3 − xPbO − (80 − 2x)B2O3 − xGeO2 (where x = 5, 10, 20, and 30 mol%) have been investigated using the Phy-X/PSD software and Monte Carlo N-Particle transport code. The mass attenuation coefficients (μm) of selected samples have been estimated through XCOM dependent Phy-X/PSD program and MCNP-5 code in the photon-energy range 0.015–15 MeV. So obtained μm values are used to calculate other γ-ray shielding parameters such as half-value layer (HVL), mean-free-path (MFP), etc. The calculated μm values were found to be 71.20 cm2/g, 76.03 cm2/g, 84.24 cm2/g, and 90.94 cm2/g for four glasses S1 to S4, respectively. The effective atomic number (Zeff)values vary between 69.87 and 17.11 for S1 or 75.66 and 29.11 for S4 over 0.05–15 MeV of photon-energy. Sample S4, which has a larger PbO/GeO2 of 30 mol% in the bismuth-borate glass, possesses the lowest MFP and HVL, providing higher radiation protection efficiency compared to all other combinations. It shows outperformance while compared the calculated parameters (HVL and MFP) with the commercial shielding glasses, different alloys, polymers, standard shielding concretes, and ceramics. Geometric Progression (G-P) was applied for evaluating the energy absorption and exposure buildup factors at energies 0.015–15 MeV with penetration depths up to 40 mfp. The buildup factors showed dependence on the MFP and photon-energy as well. The studied samples' neutron shielding behavior was also evaluated by calculating the fast neutron removal cross-section (ΣR), i.e. found to be 0.139 cm−1 for S1, 0.133 cm−1 for S2, 0.128 cm−1 for S3, and 0.12 cm−1 for S4. The results reveal a great potential for using a glass composite sample S4 in radiation protection applications.

Photon attenuation parameters of non-essential amino acids using EPICS2017 library interpolations

Mass attenuation coefficients, effective atomic numbers, electron densities and energy absorption and exposure buildup factors for the non-essential and conditionally non-essential amino acids including alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, proline, serine, and tyrosine have been acquired using the latest evaluated photoatomic library of EPICS2017. The library was used by constructing an interpolation script that calculates for all photon attenuation parameters. Comparisons were made using alternative Monte Carlo simulation results for 15 energy points from 59.5 to 1333 keV, and in contrast with experimental works in literature. Good agreements for the mass attenuation coefficients were observed between EPICS2017-based values compared with Monte Carlo code and experimental results. Similar trends for the effective atomic numbers and electron densities were observed from EPICS2017 interpolation and from results found in literature. Conversely, buildup factors acquired by Geometric-Progression fitting parameters were reported in this work preliminarily for most of these biomolecules at different penetration depths. Overall, cysteine showed the most significant deviation among the other non-essential amino acids due to the presence of sulfur in its molecular structure.

A Systematical Characterization of TeO2–V2O5 Glass System Using Boron (III) Oxide and Neodymium (III) Oxide Substitution: Resistance Behaviors against Ionizing Radiation

This study aimed to perform an extensive characterization of a 74.75TeO2–0.25V2O5–(25 − x)B2O3-xNd2O3 glass system with (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 mol%) for radiation shielding properties. Linear and mass attenuation coefficients were determined using Phy-X PSD software and compared with the simulation using Monte Carlo software MCNPX (version 2.7.0). Half value layer, mean free path, tenth value layer, effective atomic number, exposure buildup factor, and energy absorption buildup factors of VTBNd0.0, VTBNd0.5, VTBNd1.0, and VTBNd1.5 glasses were determined, respectively. The results showed that boron (III) oxide and neodymium (III) oxide substitution has an obvious impact on the gamma ray attenuation properties of the studied glasses. It can be concluded that the VTBNd1.5 sample with the highest content of neodymium (III) oxide (1.5 mol%) is the superior sample for shielding of gamma radiation in the investigated energy range.