Optically transparent glass modified with metal oxides for X-rays and gamma rays shielding material

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nuclear Engineering
• Optics

Background:

• Metal oxide glass composites are gaining interest as alternatives to conventional radiation shielding materials.
• Conventional shielding materials are often toxic, heavy, and expensive.
• Tellurite-based glasses offer a promising avenue for developing novel shielding solutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the radiation shielding effectiveness of four novel tellurite-based glass samples doped with oxide metals.
• To assess the shielding performance across a wide range of ionizing radiation energies (0.015-15 MeV).
• To investigate the optical properties of these transparent glass samples.

Main Methods:

• Computed radiation-shielding parameters: mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), linear attenuation coefficient (LAC), half-value layer (HVL), mean free path (MFP), effective atomic number (Zeff), and effective electron number (Neff).
• Calculated transmission factors across the specified energy range.
• Determined optical parameters including oscillator, dispersion energy, nonlinear refractive indices, molar, and electronic polarizability.

Main Results:

• The novel glass samples exhibit considerable effectiveness as transparent shielding materials.
• Sample C showed slightly superior shielding properties compared to samples A, B, and D.
• Sample B displayed better optical properties than the other prepared glass samples.

Conclusions:

• The developed tellurite-based glass samples possess good shielding properties and optical characteristics.
• These novel materials are suitable for transparent radiation-shielding applications.
• The findings support the utilization of these glasses in medical and industrial radiation protection.