A broad analysis of directly and indirectly ionizing radiation interaction parameters of PbF2-CaF2-Bi2O3-B2O3-Cr2O3glass system

Abstract

This study presents the shielding parameters for directly and indirectly ionization radiations of PCBBC glasses with the chemical composition: xPbF2-(25-x)CaF2-49.8B2O3-25Bi2O3-0.2Cr2O3 and coded as PCBBC1 - PCBBC4 for x = 0, 5, 15, and 25 mol. %, respectively. Photon shielding coefficients were estimated by Monte Carlo simulation method via FLUKA code and by XCOM calculations for energies ranging from 0.1-10 MeV. In addition, the total stopping powers (TSP) and projected range (R) of electron ( e-1), proton ( p+ ), alpha particle ( α), and carbon ion ( C+) ) were used to investigate the shielding ability of the glasses against charged particles while fast ςR and thermal σ T neutron cross sections were also estimated for the investigated glasses. For PCBBC1 - PCBBC4, the photon linear (mass) attenuation coefficient varies from 16.346 (3.571)-0.170 (0.037), 17.151 (3.723)-0.173 (0.038), 20.128 (3.987)-0.194 (0.038), and 22.972 (4.209)-0.213 cm-1 (0.039 cm2g-1) respectively. At 10 MeV, the half value layer was 3.879, 3.782, 3.343, and 3.013 cm corresponding to PbF2 molar content increase from 0%-25% in the PCBBC glasses. Generally, effective atomic number (electron density) Zeff ( Neff) vary with energy within the range of 18.49 -71.75 (2.93-11.37), 19.35-72.68 (2.92-10.98), 21.04-74.18 (2.91-10.25), and 22.70-75.34 (2.89-9.600 NA electrons/g). values of TSP and R follow the order: PCBBC1 > PCBBC2 > PCBBC3 > PCBBC4. ςR changed from 0.09989-0.10358 cm-1 with PCBBC4 having the maximum value while σ T grew from 95.14954-113.45969 cm-1 for PCBBC1 - PCBBC4 respectively. Compared to conventional glass shields PCBBC4 glass possesses superior shielding ability and it is a potential material for radiation shielding applications in emerging radiation-based technology.