Chalcogenide glass-ceramics for radiation shielding applications

Abstract

In this paper, the radiation shielding properties of chalcogenide glass-ceramics with the chemical composition of xCsCl-(100-x)(0.5GeS(2)-0.5Sb(2)S(3)), where 0 <= x <= 40 mol%, were investigated by using Geant4 simulations, GP method, and Phy-X/PSD program. Mass attenuation coefficient (mu/p), half value layer (HVL), removal cross section (RCS), exposure buildup factor (EBF), mean free path (MFP), and effective atomic number (Z(eff)) were evaluated to elucidate the radiation shielding competence of the present chalcogenide glass-ceramics. A good agreement was noted between the mu/p values of Geant4 simulations and theoretical calculations. At 15 MeV, we found that the HVL values raised from 5.276 cm to 5.728 cm as the concentration of CsCl increased from 0 to 40 mol%. Maximum Z(eq) values occurred at 1 MeV and were 42.20, 42.98, 43.76, 44.57, and 45.40 for GSC-A, GSC-B, GSC-C, GSC-D, and GSC-E, respectively. The results revealed that the chalcogenide glass-ceramics have radiation shielding properties superior to those of commercial glasses, and traditional concrete.