Role of PbO 2 in enhancing radiation shielding efficiency of lead borosilicate glasses

Abstract The radiation shielding parameters of lead borosilicate glasses were examined to assess their potential in different radiation shielding applications. The shielding parameters of the investigated glasses were estimated within the 0.0359–1.46 MeV interval. The transmission factor values increase as the incoming energy increases, suggesting that more photons transmit through the glasses when they have higher energies. The TF results also showed that adding more PbO 2 and removing B 2 O 3 in the glasses leads to a smaller TF, and therefore a more effective shield. The radiation protection efficiency (RPE) was calculated and the results demonstrated that glass with higher PbO 2 content has a greater shielding ability at all tested energies. At very low energies, the RPE of the glasses is essentially equal to 1, meaning that all of the incoming photons are absorbed by the glasses. The linear attenuation coefficient was investigated and the maximum LAC was reported at 0.0395 MeV, ranging from 43.711 to 58.409 cm −1 .