Effect of ZnO composition on gamma-ray shielding capabilities of B₂O₃-TiO₂-BaO-Gd₂O₃ glasses using a narrow-beam...

The current work aims to experimentally examine the shielding parameters of borate glasses with ZnO modifiers. The examined borate glasses were fabricated according to the chemical composition of (81-x)B₂O₃-8TiO₂-10BaO-xZnO-1Gd₂O₃; x = 20, 23, 26, and 29 mol%. The Archimedes method for density measurements confirms that the density of the fabricated glasses is enhanced by ≈ 8% when the ZnO concentration increases from 20 to 29 mol%. Additionally, the XRD analysis confirms the amorphous nature of the prepared samples. The gamma-ray shielding parameters of the fabricated glasses were measured experimentally using a NaI(Tl) gamma-ray detector across the energy interval 0.356 MeV to 1.332 MeV from various radioactive gamma sources. The increase in ZnO concentration increases the linear attenuation coefficient of the fabricated glasses by 15.3%, 14.2%, and 14.9% at 0.356 MeV, 0.662 MeV, and 1.275 MeV, respectively. This improvement is primarily attributed to the increased density and enhanced photon interaction probability resulting from the higher ZnO content. The obtained results demonstrate that the prepared lead-free borate glasses exhibit improved gamma-ray attenuation characteristics and are promising candidates for gamma-radiation shielding applications.