Performance of Iron Phosphate Glass Containing Various Heavy Metal Oxides for Particulate Nuclear Radiation Shielding

Bassem Abdelwahab; G S M Ahmed; M El-Ghazaly; A Zoulfakar; S M Salem; I I Bashter; A G Mostafa

doi:10.2174/0118744710271477231105075516

Performance of Iron Phosphate Glass Containing Various Heavy Metal Oxides for Particulate Nuclear Radiation Shielding

Curr Radiopharm. 2024 Jan 8. doi: 10.2174/0118744710271477231105075516. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Bassem Abdelwahab¹, G S M Ahmed², M El-Ghazaly¹, A Zoulfakar³, S M Salem², I I Bashter¹, A G Mostafa²

Affiliations

¹ Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.
² Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
³ Egyptian Meteorological Authority, Cairo, Egypt.

PMID: 38192131
DOI: 10.2174/0118744710271477231105075516

Abstract

Introduction: Employees may be exposed to different kinds of ionizing radiation at work. When ionizing radiation interacts with human cells, it can cause damage to the cells and genetic material. Therefore, one of the scientists' primary objectives has always been to create the best radiation-shielding materials. Glass could offer promising shielding material resulting from the high flexibility of composition, simplicity of production, and good thermal stability.

Materials and methods: The melt-quenching technique was used to create a glass having the following formula: 50%P2O5+20%Na2O+20%Fe2O3+10%X, where X = As2O3, SrO, BaO, CdO, and Sb2O3 mol %. The impact of the different heavy metal additions on the structure of the glass networks was studied using FTIR spectroscopy. Glass's ability to attenuate neutrons and/or charged particles has been theoretically investigated. The performance of the developed glass as a shield was examined by a comparison against commercial glass (RS 253 G18), ordinary concrete (OC), and water (H2O).

Results: For charged particle radiations (Electrons, Protons, and Alpha), the shielding parameters like the mass stopping power, the projected range, and the effective atomic number were evaluated, where S5/Sb glass achieves the best performance. In the case of Neutrons, the results values reveal that S3/Ba glass ( Σ! = 0.105) is the best-modified glass for neutron shielding.

Conclusion: Among all the investigated glasses, S5/Sb glass composition has a smaller range and provides superior protection against charged particles. In contrast, the S3/Ba glass composition is a superior choice for shielding against neutron radiation.

Keywords: Effective atomic number (Z_eff).; FTIR spectroscopy; Fast neutron removal cross-section ( ?_R); Mass stopping power (MSP); Nuclear radiation protection; projected range (R_p).