Impact of Ag2O on the mechanical and shielding features of ZnO- Er2O3-TeO2 glasses

The investigation involves a comprehensive study on the mechanical and shielding features of the zinc erbium tellurite glasses as a function of doped Ag2O content. The mechanical features are estimated for the examined glasses by utilizing the Makishima-Makinzie model. The results showed the mechanical moduli of Young (E), bulk (B), Shear (K), and longitudinal (L) increased with the increment of the Ag2O substitution ratio. Besides, the radiation shielding properties were also studied and discussed. Among the shielding parameters, the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC), half-value layer (HVL), the lead equivalent and transmission rate (TR) were estimated. The linear attenuation coefficient results illustrated that the TZEAg glasses are better compared to the commercial marketing glasses, especially TZEAg5 glasses. Doping of Ag2O content in zinc erbium tellurite glass improves its ability to attenuate the gamma photons. Also, this study revealed the effectiveness of the examined glasses on the fast neutron, where the fast neutron mass removal cross-section ∑R (cm2/g) computed theoretically. The results offered the maximum value of ∑R = 0.019 cm2/g attained for TZEAg1 while the minimum value ∑R = 0.01884 cm2/g for TZEAg5 glass.

Structural, Optical, Magnetic and Photon Attenuation of Novel Potassium Lead Borate Glasses Doped with MnO

Potassium lead borate glasses doped with MnO (40B2O3+40PbO+(20-x)K2O+xMnO: x= 0-5 mol%) have been prepared via standard melting quenching process. The impact of MnO on the structure, optical, magnetic and gamma-ray protection properties of pottisium lead borate glasses have been examined. The density was increased from 4.83±0.01 to 5.23±0.01 g/cm3 as MnO content increased. The obtained direct optical gap (Eg) values were 2.84, 2.59, 2.41, 2.19, 1.95, and 1.84 eV for the Mn-x (x=0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5) glass samples, respectively. FTIR spectra demonstrated that as the MnO concentration increases in the glass network the intensity and width of the IR bands were increased. The magnetic measurement revealed that the magnetic situation (Ms) was decreased while the magnetic coercivity (Hc) was increased with increasing MnO substitution ratio. The linear attenuation coefficient of the follows the order: µMn-0 < µMn-1 < µMn-2 < µMn-3 < µMn-4 < µMn-5. Half value layer (HVL) rises as µ decreases and vice versa. The range of the HVL is 0.002 – 3.378, 0.002 – 3.334, 0.002 – 3.291, 0.002 – 3.248, 0.002 – 3.176, and 0.002 – 3.106 cm for Mn-x (x=0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and5). The trend of Zeff variation is related to that of both linear and mass attenuation coefficients (µ and µm). The produced Mn-glasses can be employed in a variety of optical, magnetic and radiation protective applications.

Assessment of Radiation Shielding Properties of Polymer-Lead (II) Oxide Composites

Long term exposure to very high levels of radiations from medical diagnostic centres, industries, nuclear research establishments and nuclear weapon development have resulted in health effects such as cancer and acute radiation syndrome, hence the need for proper radiation shielding. This paper investigated Epoxy-Lead (II) Oxide (PbO) composite as radiation shielding. The composites were prepared by dispersion of microsized PbO particles into polymeric materials using effective melt-mixing method and cast in a 4 cm by 6 cm rectangular aluminium Mold with a thickness of 5 mm and was allowed to set over night at room temperature. The gamma ray attenuation ability of the composites were studied using gamma ray transmission or attenuation coefficient determination for the gamma ray energy. Three gamma ray sources Ba-133, Cs-137 and Co-60 were employed. The density, linear attenuation coefficient, half value layer (HVL), relaxation length and heaviness of the samples were determined. The measured values of linear attenuation coefficient increased with increasing filler concentration in all the samples at all gamma ray energies. It was also noticed that 40 % and 50 % filler samples attenuates more relative to the other samples under study. The maximum linear attenuation attained was found at energy of 662 keV. The composites have been found to possessed medical gamma-ray attenuation characteristics among the sample materials over a certain photon energy range (0.08 MeV–1.332 MeV) and found useful as a biological radiation shielding against gamma rays.

Producing Heavyweight High-Performance Concrete by Using Black Sand as Newly Shielding Construction Material

Experimental work was carried out to study new fine aggregate shielding construction materials, namely black sand (BS). The BS effect on the mechanical, durability, and shielding characteristics of heavyweight high-performance concrete (HWHPC) was evaluated. This study aimed at improving various HWHPC properties, concertedly. Fifteen mixtures of HWHPC were made, with various variables, including replacing 10% and 15% of the cement with fly ash (FA) and replacing normal sand by BS at various contents (15%, 30%, 45%, 60%, 75%, and 100%). The test specimens were subjected to various exposure conditions, including elevated temperatures, which ranged from 250 °C to 750 °C, for a duration of 3 h; magnesium sulfate (MS) exposure; and gamma-ray exposure. The effects of elevated temperature and sulfate resistance on concrete mass loss were examined. The results revealed that BS is a promising shielding construction material. The BS content is the most important factor influencing concrete compressive strength. Mixes containing 15% BS demonstrated significantly better strength compared to the control mixes. Exposure to 250 °C led to a notable increase in compressive strength. BS showed a significant effect on HWHPC fire resistance properties, especially at 750 °C and a significant linear attenuation coefficient. Using 10% FA with 15% BS was the most effective mixing proportion for improving all HWHPC properties concertedly, especially at greater ages.

Experimental Investigation of Radiation Shielding Competence of Bi2O3-CaO-K2O-Na2O-P2O5 Glass Systems

The gamma-ray shielding features of Bi2O3-CaO-K2O-Na2O-P2O5 glass systems were experimentally reported. The mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) for the fabricated glasses was experimentally measured at seven energy values (between 0.0595 and 1.33 MeV). The compatibility between the practical and theoretical results shows the accuracy of the results obtained in the laboratory for determining the MAC of the prepared samples. The mass and linear attenuation coefficients (MACs) increase with the addition of Bi2O3 and A4 glass possesses the highest MAC and LAC. A downward trend in the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) with increasing the energy from 0.0595 to 1.33 MeV is found. The highest LAC is found at 1.33 MeV (in the range of 0.092–0.143 cm−1). The effective atomic number (Zeff) follows the order B1 > A1 > A2 > A3 > A4. This order emphasizes that increasing the content of Bi2O3 has a positive effect on the photon shielding proficiencies owing to the higher density of Bi2O3 compared with Na2O. The half value layer (HVL) is also determined and the HVL for the tested glasses is computed between 0.106 and 0.958 cm at 0.0595 MeV. The glass with 10 mol% of Bi2O3 has lower HVL than the glasses with 0, 2.5, 5, and 7.5 mol% of Bi2O3. So, the A4 glass needs a smaller thickness than the other glasses to shield the same radiation. As a result of the reported shielding parameters, inserting B2O3 provides lower values of these three parameters, which in turn leads to the development of superior photons shields.

Thermal stability, mechanical properties, and gamma radiation shielding performance of polyvinyl chloride/Pb(NO3)2 composites

Radiation shielding composites based on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) reinforced with different weight ratios of Pb(NO3)2 (5, 10, and 20 wt%) were prepared using the solution-casting technique. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy, and tensile testing method were used to characterize the PVC composite films. FTIR and XRD investigations illustrate the structural change and modification of the as-prepared PVC composites. The morphological analysis of the composite revealed that Pb(NO3)2 was dispersed uniformly within PVC polymer matrix. TGA revealed that the incorporation of Pb(NO3)2 improved the thermal stability of the investigated composites, whereas adding Pb(NO3)2 to the polymer matrix worsened its tensile properties. The as-prepared composite films were investigated for radiation-shielding of gamma-rays radioactive point sources (241Am, 133Ba, 137Cs, and 60Co). Linear attenuation coefficient (μ, cm−1), mass attenuation coefficient (μ/ρ, cm2/g), and half-value layer (HVL, cm) have been estimated from the obtained data using the MicroShield program. Reasonable agreement was attended between theoretical and experimental results. The deviation between the experiment and theoretical values of mass attenuation coefficient is being to be lower than 9%, and this can be correlated to the good distribution of Pb(NO3)2. The results revealed that adding Pb(NO3)2 to PVC polymer composites improved their mass attenuation coefficient.

The Vital Role of La2O3 on the La2O3-CaO-B2O3-SiO2 Glass System for Shielding Some Common Gamma Ray Radioactive Sources

The role La2O3 on the radiation shielding properties of La2O3-CaO-B2O3-SiO2 glass systems was investigated. The energies were selected between 0.284 and 1.275 MeV and Phy-X software was used for the calculations. BLa10 glass had the least linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) at all the tested energies, while BLa30 had the greatest, which indicated that increasing the content of La2O3 in the BLa-X glasses enhances the shielding performance of these glasses. The mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) of BLa15 decreases from 0.150 cm2/g to 0.054 cm2/g at energies of 0.284 MeV and 1.275 MeV, respectively, while the MAC of BLa25 decreases from 0.164 cm2/g to 0.053 cm2/g for the same energies, respectively. At all energies, the effective atomic number (Zeff) values follow the trend BLa10 < BLa15 < BLa20 < BLa25 < BLa30. The half value thickness (HVL) of the BLa-X glass shields were also investigated. The minimum HVL values are found at 0.284 MeV. The HVL results demonstrated that BLa30 is the most space-efficient shield. The tenth value layer (TVL) results demonstrated that the glasses are more effective attenuators at lower energies, while decreasing in ability at greater energies. These mean free path results proved that increasing the density of the glasses, by increasing the amount of La2O3 content, lowers MFP, and increases attenuation, which means that BLa30, the glass with the greatest density, absorbs the most amount of radiation.

Enhancement of Bentonite Materials with Cement for Gamma-Ray Shielding Capability

The gamma-ray shielding ability of various Bentonite–Cement mixed materials from northeast Egypt have been examined by determining their theoretical and experimental mass attenuation coefficients, μm (cm2g−1), at photon energies of 59.6, 121.78, 344.28, 661.66, 964.13, 1173.23, 1332.5 and 1408.01 keV emitted from 241Am, 137Cs, 152Eu and 60Co point sources. The μm was theoretically calculated using the chemical compositions obtained by Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDX), while a NaI (Tl) scintillation detector was used to experimentally determine the μm (cm2g−1) of the mixed samples. The theoretical values are in acceptable agreement with the experimental calculations of the XCom software. The linear attenuation coefficient (μ), mean free path (MFP), half-value layer (HVL) and the exposure buildup factor (EBF) were also calculated by knowing the μm values of the examined samples. The gamma-radiation shielding ability of the selected Bentonite–Cement mixed samples have been studied against other puplished shielding materials. Knowledge of various factors such as thermo-chemical stability, availability and water holding capacity of the bentonite–cement mixed samples can be analyzed to determine the effectiveness of the materials to shield gamma rays.