High density binary TeO2-Bi2O3 glasses: strong potential as a nontoxic and environmentally friendly glass shields for photons/charged particles

Abstract

Ionizing radiation/charged particles shielding capacity of high density bismuth tellurite based glasses: (100-x)TeO2 + xBi(2)O(3) with x = 5(TB5), 8(TB8), 10(TB10), 12(TB12), and 15 (TB15) mol% have been examined. New Phy-X/PSD software has been applied to achieve this aim. The gamma radiation shielding parameters such as mass/linear attenuation coefficients (MAC/LAC), half value thickness (HVT), effective atomic number/electron density (Z(eff)/N-eff) and mean free path (MFP) were estimated for thirteen (13) energies in the range of 0.2835-2.506 MeV associated with Co-60, Cs-137, I-131, and Na-22 sources. Comparatively, the obtained values revealed that (MAC/LAC)(TB5) < (MAC/LAC)(TB8) < (MAC/LAC)(TB10) < (MAC/LAC)(TB12) < (MAC/LAC)(TB15). The Z(eff) and N-eff varies from 25.01 to 43.96 and 2.69-4.25 x 10(23) electrons/gram. The (HVT/MFP)(TB15) < (HVT/MFP)(TB12) < (HVT/MFP)(TB10) < (HVT/MFP)(TB8) < (HVT/MFP)(TB5). The variation of the total stopping power (SP) of electron was obeyed the trend: (SP)(TB5) < (SP)(TB8) < (SP)(TB10) < (SP)(TB12) < (SP)(TB15). Results revealed that the increase in the Bi2O3 content of the glasses has a positive influence on their photon absorbing ability. (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.