Study of radiation shielding properties of calcium-silicate glass adding with Bi2O3 by comparing with WinXCom program

Abstract

This research aims to study the radiation shielding properties of sodium-calcium silicate glass added with bismuth oxide (Bi2O3). Glass formulas with xBi2O3: (20-x)SnO2: 20Na2O : 10CaO : 50SiO2 at different concentrations (when x = 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mol percent) were prepared by melt quenching technique. Radiation shielding properties including mass attenuation coefficient (µm), half-value layer (HVL), effective atomic number ( Zeff) , and effective electron density (Neff) with an energy of 662 keV were calculated by experimental and theoretical methods. The Cesium-137 ( Cs-137) was the radioactive source used in the experiment. The experimental results were compared with the theoretical values of the µm, HVL, Zeff, and Neff calculated from the WinXCom program. The research results found that µm, Zeff, and Neff increased with increasing bismuth concentration, and it was found that the HVL decreased with increasing bismuth concentration.