Enhancement of Gamma-ray Shielding Properties in Cobalt-Doped Heavy Metal Borate Glasses: The Role of Lanthanum Oxide Reinforcement

Ghada ALMisned; Wiam Elshami; Shams A M Issa; Gulfem Susoy; Hesham M H Zakaly; Merfat Algethami; Y S Rammah; Antoaneta Ene; S A Al-Ghamdi; Awad A Ibraheem; H O Tekin

doi:10.3390/ma14247703

Enhancement of Gamma-ray Shielding Properties in Cobalt-Doped Heavy Metal Borate Glasses: The Role of Lanthanum Oxide Reinforcement

Materials (Basel). 2021 Dec 13;14(24):7703. doi: 10.3390/ma14247703.

Authors

Ghada ALMisned¹, Wiam Elshami², Shams A M Issa^{3

4}, Gulfem Susoy⁵, Hesham M H Zakaly^{4

6}, Merfat Algethami⁷, Y S Rammah⁸, Antoaneta Ene⁹, S A Al-Ghamdi³, Awad A Ibraheem¹⁰, H O Tekin^{2

11}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, College of Science, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia.
² Medical Diagnostic Imaging Department, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates.
³ Physics Department, Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, Tabuk 47512, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Assiut 71524, Egypt.
⁵ Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Istanbul University, Istanbul 34134, Turkey.
⁶ Institute of Physics and Technology, Ural Federal University, 620002 Ekaterinburg, Russia.
⁷ Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University, Shebin El-Koom 32511, Egypt.
⁹ INPOLDE Research Center, Department of Chemistry, Physics and Environment, Faculty of Sciences and Environment, Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, 47 Domneasca Street, 800008 Galati, Romania.
¹⁰ Physics Department, King Khalid University, Abha 62529, Saudi Arabia.
¹¹ Medical Radiation Research Center (USMERA), Uskudar University, Istanbul 34672, Turkey.

Abstract

The direct influence of La³⁺ ions on the gamma-ray shielding properties of cobalt-doped heavy metal borate glasses with the chemical formula 0.3CoO-(80-x)B₂O₃-19.7PbO-xLa₂O₃: x = 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 mol% was examined herein. Several significant radiation shielding parameters were evaluated. The glass density was increased from 3.11 to 3.36 g/cm³ with increasing La³⁺ ion content from 0 to 2 mol%. The S5 glass sample, which contained the highest concentration of La³⁺ ions (2 mol%), had the maximum linear (μ) and mass (μ_m) attenuation coefficients for all photon energies entering, while the S1 glass sample free of La³⁺ ions possessed the minimum values of μ and μ_m. Both the half value layer (T_1/2) and tenth value layer (TVL) of all investigated glasses showed a similar trend of (T_1/2, TVL)_S1 > (T_1/2, TVL)_S2 > (T_1/2, TVL)_S3 > (T_1/2, TVL)_S4 > (T_1/2, TVL)_S5. Our results revealed that the S5 sample had the highest effective atomic number (Z_eff) values over the whole range of gamma-ray energy. S5 had the lowest exposure (EBF) and energy absorption (EABF) build-up factor values across the whole photon energy and penetration depth range. Our findings give a strong indication of the S5 sample's superior gamma-ray shielding characteristics due to the highest contribution of lanthanum oxide.

Keywords: gamma ray; lead borate glasses; mass attenuation; radiation resistance.