Theoretical study of the effect of adding bismuth and lead oxides on gamma-ray shielding properties of lithium silicate glass

Abstract

The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of adding bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) and lead oxide (PbO) on the gamma-ray shielding properties of lithium silicate (Li2O-SiO2) glass. The gamma-ray shielding properties of two different glass compositions: xBi2O3 - 20Li2O - (80-x)SiO2 and the xPbO - 20 Li2O - (80-x) SiO2 (when x = 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 mol%) were calculated by WinXCom and Phy-X programs. In this work, the parameters including mass attenuation coefficient ( m  ), effective atomic number ( Zeff ), and electron density ( Neff ) were reported at an energy of 662 KeV. The results demonstrated that the  m , Zeff , and Neff exhibited an upward trend with increasing concentrations of Bi2O3 and PbO. In addition, both glass were assessed in comparison to the mass attenuation coefficients of standard radiation shielding materials such as concrete.