Synthesis, FTIR, and neutron/charged particle transmission properties of Pb3O4-SiO2-ZnO-WO3 glass system

Abstract

A quaternary glass system described by the composition 35Pb(3)O(4)-60SiO(2)-(5-x)ZnO-xWO(3) (0 <= x <= 5 mol%) was prepared via the ordinary method namely melt quenching. The amorphous state of this system was experimentally evaluated using X-ray diffraction. At room temperature, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was carried out to test the structure of each specimen by using the KBr technique for wavenumber of 4000-400 cm(-1). The FTIR test demonstrated that structural units and connectivity of the modifier oxide tetrahedral increased, whereas non-bridging oxygen decreased as ZnO was substituted by WO3. The results of neutron transmission studies showed that 6 mm was the required thickness to reduce by half the intensity of the fast neutron beam; more specifically, the fast neutron transmission factor was 0.54, 0.53, 0.53, 0.51, and 0.49 for the prepared glass specimens G1, G2, G3, G4, and G5, respectively. For charged particles, the maximum range was observed in the high energy region (10 MeV) for all projectiles studied, with 8066.33 mu m for electrons, 356.86 mu m for protons, 39.30 mu m for alpha particles, and 5.83 mu m for carbon ions. The prepared glass system has promising features for use in various dosimetry and radiation protection applications at a neutron energy below 10 MeV.