Role of TeO2 in radiation shielding characteristics of calcium boro-tellurite glasses

Abstract

In this paper, the role of TeO2 in radiation attenuating characteristics of xTeO(2) -10CaF(2)-(60-0.6x) B2O3 -(30-0.4x) CaO glass system with x = 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 wt% was investigated. The gamma radiation studies were carried out by utilizing Geant4 simulations and the newly developed Phy-X/PSD program. The gamma-shielding characteristics of the present glass samples were examined in terms of mass attenuation coefficient (mu/rho), and some other related factors such as the effective atomic number (Z(eff)), and mean free path (MFP). The electron radiation-shielding characteristics were tested by determining the stopping power (psi(e)) and CSDA range for each glass specimen. The neutron radiation-shielding characteristics were explored by evaluating the removal cross section (RCS) for the tested glasses. Moreover, the G-P method was employed to investigate the exposure buildup factor (EBF) for photon energies up to 15 MeV. The results showed that the TeO2 content had a significant influence on the shielding ability of the investigated glasses against gamma and neutron radiations. In contrast, the TeO2 content had an insignificant influence on the electron radiation-shielding capacity of the glasses involved. Additionally, the nuclear-shielding properties of the studied samples were compared with those of standard nuclear radiation shields. It can be concluded that the present calcium boro-tellurite glasses have a promising future to be used as a shielding material against gamma, electron and neutron radiation, wherein the TeO2 concentration can be balanced according to the desired application.