Assessing the radiation shielding potential of borate glasses enhanced with PbO 2 , BaO, and Y 2 O 3 additives

Abstract New types of borate glass doped with BaO, PbO 2 , and Y 2 O 3 were developed for radiation shielding. The attenuation properties of these glasses were calculated theoretically using the Phy-X software and measured experimentally with an HPGe detector and various radioactive sources. At 0.059 MeV, the theoretical results showed a high linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) (range: 13.66–17.98 cm −1 ) that decreased with increasing energy, resulting in a minimum value range of 0.20–0.23 cm −1 at 1.332 MeV. The LAC was strongly influenced by the chemical composition of the glasses, with the results demonstrating higher LACs with greater PbO 2 , BaO, and Y 2 O 3 content incorporated into the glasses. The radiation shielding efficiency results suggest that increasing the BaO, PbO 2 , and Y 2 O 3 content raised the radiation attenuation ability of the glasses. It was also found that the half-value thickness elevated with increased radiation energy, thus requiring thicker glass at higher energies.