Gamma ray shielding capacity and build up factors of CdO doped lithium borate glasses: theoretical and simulation study

• Published in: Journal of non-crystalline solids Vol. 541; p. 120110
• Main Authors: Mahmoud, K A, El-Agwany, F I, Rammah, Y S, Tashlykov, O L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.08.2020
• Subjects: Fast neutron; Gamma ray; Monte Carlo simulation; Shielding capacity; Fast neutron; Gamma ray; Shielding capacity; Monte Carlo simulation
• ISSN: 0022-3093; 1873-4812
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2020.120110

•Gamma-ray and neutron attenuation parameters for glass samples of the chemical composition (80B2O3-10Na2O-(10-x) Li2O-xCdO); x= 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 mol% have been investigated.•Weight fractions of each element present in the glass samples were calculated.•Mass attenuation coefficient (μ/ρ) values were evaluated by MCNP5 simulation and XCOM code.•HVL, MFP, Zeff, Neff, EABF, EBF, and fast neutron effective removal cross sections (∑R) were calculated. The ability of six cadmium doped alkali borate glasses was evaluated to be used for shielding application. Monte Carlo simulation code (MCNP-5) used to simulate the shielding parameters for gamma ray in energy zone increase from 0.015 to 15 MeV. The mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) of the studied glasses was found to enhance with replacement of Li2O with CdO contents. The higher MAC was found to increase from 1.652 to 7.453 cm2.g-1 for glasses BLNC0 without CdO content and BLNC10 with Coda 10 mol%. Moreover, the thicker half value layer was found to vary decrease from 18.201 to 12.144 cm and the higher mean free path was found to decrease from 26.259 to 17.521 cm for glasses BLNC0 and BLNC10 respectively. The effective atomic number (Zeff) for the investigated glasses was also estimated theoretically and the results showed enhancement of the Zeffwith insertion of CdO contents. The exposure buildup factors (EBF and EABF) were also calculated in the energy range between 0.015 and 15 MeV. Other pivotal, the removal cross section (ΣR) for fast neutron was also calculated for the investigated glasses. The obtained results showed a significant variation in the ΣR with the increase of CdO contents in the studied glasses.