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We investigate the radiation shielding properties for four Te-based alloys. X-ray diffraction patterns revealed pure phases in all studied samples; however, a secondary phase is detected in the CrTe sample in good agreement with the literature. All samples’ densities were measured using the Archimedes principle. The mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) was calculated using Geant4 MC Toolkit and then compared with the XCOM data. Many photon-shielding properties were computed for all investigated samples based on the MAC. The Phy-X and SRIM were used to determine the fast neutron removal cross-section (ΣR) and projected range, respectively. As a result, PbTe shows superior shielding features compared to the rest of the investigated samples to use this sample in different shielding applications.

Zirconium–Titanium–Thallium Ternary Oxide Ceramic (0.5ZrO2-(0.5-x)TiO2-xTl2O3 (x = 0, 0.05, 0.15, 0.2 and 0.25 mol %) was synthesized via solid-state reaction. Advanced analytical technique like Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and X-Ray diffraction (XRD) were used to study the microstructure and the solubility of thallium oxide in the ZrO2/TiO2 mixture. The diffuse reflectance and photoluminescence techniques were employed to investigate the optical properties of the prepared alloys for various Tl2O3 mol% concentrations. In addition, the mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) for the synthesized ceramic samples was measured experimentally and compared with XCOM data. Our experimental values were in good agreement with XCOM data. Various shielding parameters for gamma-rays, neutron, proton, and alpha particles were evaluated using XCOM, Phy-X, and SRIM programs. The Tl2O3 content linearly affects the gamma-rays shielding parameters, while the Tl2O3 content has an inverse relationship with neutron and charged particle shielding parameters. This study proved that our Zirconium–Titanium–Thallium Ternary Oxide Ceramic samples can be applied as ionizing radiation shielding material very well.

Recently, the use of ionizing radiation in various fields leads to an increased demand for shielding materials. This work aims to study the structural and radiation shielding properties of two groups of perovskite ceramics. Fourier transform infrared and X-ray diffraction were utilized to investigate current samples’ structure, and various radiation shielding parameters were determined to explore the current samples’ ability to absorb radiation within an energy range from 0.284 to 2.506 MeV using the Phy-X program. The Fourier transform infrared results revealed one vibration band for BaTiO3–ZrO2 located at 507 cm−1, two bands centered at 835 and 520 cm−1 for the BaTiO3-Mo sample, and five bands located at 435, 520, 539, 615, and 775 cm−1 for SrMnO3–ZnO and SrMnO3–TeO2. Simultaneously, the X-ray diffraction displays the hexagonal phase for SrMnO3 and the tetragonal phase for BaTiO3 samples. The BaTiO3-Mo sample has the highest density, packing density, and Poisson’s ratio compares with other samples. According to gamma shielding results, the SrMnO3–ZnO and BaTiO3–ZrO2 samples appear the lowest and highest absorption ability, respectively. On another side, the SrMnO3–TeO2 sample has the highest removal cross-section for fast neutrons. From obtained results, it can be concluded that the BaTiO3–ZrO2 sample has an excellent capacity to stop gamma-ray, while SrMnO3–TeO2 can be used to prevent neutrons.

The current study aims to explore the shielding properties of multi-component borate-based glass series. Seven glass-samples with composition of (80-y)H3BO3–10ZnO–10Na2O–yBaO where (y = 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 mol.%) were synthesized by melt-quench method. Various shielding features for photons, neutrons, and protons were determined for all prepared samples. XCOM, Phy-X program, and SRIM code were performed to determine and explain several shielding properties such as equivalent atomic number, exposure build-up factor, specific gamma-ray constants, effective removal cross-section (ΣR), neutron scattering and absorption, Mass Stopping Power (MSP) and projected range. The energy ranges for photons and protons were 0.015–15 MeV and 0.01–10 MeV, respectively. The mass attenuation coefficient (μ/ρ) was also determined experimentally by utilizing two radioactive sources (166Ho and 137Cs). Consistent results were obtained between experimental and XCOM values in determining μ/ρ of the new glasses. The addition of BaO to the glass matrix led to enhance the μ/ρ and specific gamma-ray constants of glasses. Whereas the remarkable reductions in ΣR, MSP, and projected range values were reported with increasing BaO concentrations. The acquired results nominate the use of these glasses in different radiation shielding purposes.

This study aims to explore the effect of Bi2O3 and Yb2O3 on the structural and radiation shielding properties of BaTiO3 ceramic samples fabricated by solid-state reaction and high-energy ball milling techniques. X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra revealed that the current ceramic samples have a tetragonal phase. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) results showed a peak at 1435 cm−1 for all ceramics that attributed to Ba–Ti–O. Various physical properties like density, packing density, molar volume, and Poisson's ratio were calculated for the prepared ceramic samples. The highest concentration of Bi2O3 (C3) exhibited the highest density values (5.562 g/cm3), packing density (0.630), and Poisson's ratio (0.279), whereas the high concentration of Yb2O3 (C6) had a density of 4.731 g/cm3, a packing density of 0.529, and a Poisson's ratio of 0.237. In addition, different radiation shielding properties were determined by using the Phy-X program for all ceramic samples. The mass attenuation coefficient (μ/ρ) values for C3 and C6 at 1 MeV were 0.065 and 0.062 cm2/g, respectively. Based on the calculated (μ/ρ), the C3 sample revealed a promising half-value layer (HVL), mean free path (MFP), and effective atomic number (Zeff). Regarding the neutron shielding properties, the effective removal cross-section (ΣR) values for C1, C2, C3, C4, C5 and C6 were 0.101, 0.098, 0.095, 0.089, 0.88 and 0.085 cm−1, respectively. In this regard, C1 showed the highest ΣR compared with the other prepared samples. In conclusion, C1 and C3 samples have superior neutron and photon shielding features compared with the other prepared ceramics. In light of these obtained results, the fabricated ceramics can be concluded to be very helpful for photon and neutron shielding applications.

The influence of modifier oxides (TiO2, ZnO, BaO, and PbO) on the mechanical and radiation shielding properties of boro-tellurate glasses is investigated. Samples with a composition of B2O3-SrO-TeO2-RO (RO represents the modifier oxides) were fabricated using the melt quench method, and their physical, mechanical, and radiation attenuation parameters were reported. For this aim, Monte Carlo simulation was employed to predict the radiation attenuation parameters, while the Makishima-Mackenzie model was adopted to determine the mechanical properties. The tightly packed structure with better cross-linkage density is possessed by the Ti-containing glass (SBT-Ti) system among the titled glass batch. The higher Poisson and micro-hardness values of the SBT-Ti glass indicate its structure’s reduced free volume and better compactness. For the glass with PbO, the linear and mass attenuation coefficients are highly increased compared to those glasses doped with TiO2, ZnO, and BaO. The thinner half-value layer was reported at 0.015 MeV, taking values 0.006, 0.005, 0.004, and 0.002 for samples with TiO2, ZnO, BaO, and PbO, respectively. SBT-Pb sample (with PbO) has a thinner HVL compared to other fabricated glass samples. The fabricated glasses’ thickness (Deq) equivalent to 1 cm of lead (Pb) was reported. The results demonstrated that Deq is high at low energy and equals 11.62, 8.81, 7.61, 4.56 cm for SBT-Ti, SBT-Zn, SBT-Ba, and SBT-Pb glass samples, respectively. According to the Deq results, the fabricated glasses have a shielding capacity between 30 and 43% compared to the pure Pb at gamma-ray energy of 1.5 MeV. At high energy (8 MeV), the transmission factor values for a thickness of 1 cm of the fabricated samples reach 88.68, 87.83, 85.95, and 83.11% for glasses SBT-Ti, SBT-Zn, SBT-Ba, and SBT-Pb, respectively. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The authors acknowledge the support of Taif University Researchers Supporting Project number (TURSP-2020/127), Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.

In this work, six borate-bismuth glasses have been synthesized using a conventional melt-quenching-aneling process with a composition of (80-x)B2O3 10ZnO 10MgO-xBi2O3 where x = 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 mol%. The glasses were melted at 975 °C for 30 min and annealed at 300 °C for 5 h. Different physical properties of these glasses have been measured and estimated. X-ray diffraction has been utilized to investigate the structural nature of these glasses. Optical absorption and transmittance spectra have been measured for all samples in the range of 300–800 nm at room temperature. The cutoff wavelength of all glass samples was determined. In addition, the radiation shielding characterization for the glass samples was done by calculating the linear and mass attenuation coefficients, mean free path, and half value layer of the photon energy ranges between 0.015 and 15 MeV using MicroShield. It was found that the glass with the highest Bi2O3 content showed the best performance in attenuating gamma radiation by exhibiting the highest linear attenuation coefficient and both lowest mean free path and half value layer due to its high density of 7.107 g/cm3.

In this study, nanocomposite material made of ultra-high molecular weight and bismuth oxide was developed to be used for protection from nuclear radiation. The traditional hot-pressing technique was used for preparing composite samples. The concentrations of Bi2O3 were selected to be 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 wt%. In order to study the changes in surface morphology, we examined all samples by scanning electron microscopic (SEM). We evaluated the semi-quantitative of all elements used to fabricate these samples using EDX. Additionally, all samples including pure Bi2O3 has been examined with X-ray diffraction (XRD). Besides that, Raman spectroscopy of all synthesized polymer matrix was measured to explore the different molecular groups. Also, the photon attenuation ability for the present samples was measured experimentally at eight energies varying from 30.8 keV to 383.9 keV using 133Ba radioactive point source.

Background Numerous techniques had been proposed to reduce radiation exposure in computed tomography (CT) including the use of radiation shielding. Objective This study aims to evaluate efficacy of using a bismuth breast shield and optimized scanning parameter to reduce breast absorbed doses from CT thorax examination. Methods Five protocols comprising the standard CT thorax clinical protocol (CP1) and four modified protocols (CP2 to CP5) were applied in anthropomorphic phantom scans. The phantom was configured as a female by placing a breast component on the chest. The breast component was divided into four quadrants, where 2 thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLD-100) were inserted into each quadrant to measure the absorbed dose. The bismuth shield was placed over the breast component during CP4 and CP5 scans. Results The pattern of absorbed doses in each breast and quadrant were approximately the same for all protocols, where the 4th quadrant > 3rd quadrant > 2nd quadrant > 1st quadrant. The mean absorbed dose value in CP3 was reduced to almost 34% of CP1's mean absorbed dose. It was reduced even lower to 15% of CP1's mean absorbed dose when the breast shield was used in CP5. Conclusion This study showed that CT radiation exposure on the breast could be reduced by using a bismuth shield and low tube potential protocol without compromising the image quality.

The effect of lithium (Li) as a co-dopant on the Thermoluminescence (TL) properties of dysprosium-doped sodium borate (NB: Dy) exposed to two radiation sources (linear accelerator and Gamma-ray from Co-60) is reported in this study. The results showed an enhancement in the TL intensity with the increment of lithium to NB: Dy. Promising dosimetric properties were recorded; glow curve with simple and prominent peak, high signal stability and simple annealing process. Furthermore, the phosphor is reusable and high dose linearity range (up to 103 Gy). The current results propose the using of the new dosimeter in different dosimetric applications.

Room temperature visible photoluminescence from rare earth ions doped in glasses became prospective for eye safe laser and sensor applications. Driven by this idea, glass system with nominal composition of 20Li2O–(70-x)B2O3–10MgO–xTm2O3 (where 0 ≤ x ≤ 1) were synthesized via a melt-quenching technique. As-quenched samples were analyzed using various analytical tools at room temperature. XRD patterns of as-quenched samples confirmed their amorphous nature and FTIR spectra revealed the existence of BO3 and BO4 structural units. Achieved glasses were transparent and thermally stable (verified by DTA curves). UV–vis-NIR spectra of glasses disclosed four significant absorption bands at round 791, 683, 466 and 355 nm which were assigned to the transitions from ground level of 3H6 to respective 3H4, 3F3, 1G4 and 1D2 excited levels of Tm3+ ions. Photoluminescence emission spectra (at an excitation wavelength of 473 nm) of prepared glasses displayed three characteristic peaks positioned at 476, 650 and 783 nm corresponding to 1G4→3H6, 1G4→3F4 and 3H4→3H6 transitions from Tm3+ ions. Also, the photon shielding properties for the LMB glasses with different Tm2O3 content were studies using the well known program (XCOM). The mass attenuation coefficients showed an increase behavior as the Tm2O3 concentration rise. Overall, the properties of LMB glasses were discerned to be sensitive to the Tm2O3 concentration variation. It was concluded that the proposed glass compositions may be useful for solid state lasers and telecommunications applications.

This work aims to explore the radiation shielding and structural features for a new glass composition 10SrO–20CdO–xMoO3–(70 − x) B2O3 where 0 ˂ x

The present work novelty pointed to fabricate new clay bricks doped with heavy minerals to be used in the building materials as a candidate for radiation shielding. The bricks were manufactured as (y)Iron mineral+ (1-y)clay, where y = 0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 fractional weight. The prepared bricks' chemical composition and density were introduced to the MCNP-5 code to assess the prepared bricks' protection capacity. The simulated linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) was confirmed by comparing the simulated results with those calculated by the Phy-X/PSD program. We found that the simulated and calculated LAC were close together. The diff (%) between the MCNP-5 and Phy-X/PSD is in the range ±2% for all the fabricated bricks. The maximum LAC values occurred at 0.015 MeV, varied between 21.540 and 39.553 cm−1 for bricks N0 and N30. The lowest LAC achieved at 15 MeV varied between 0.068 and 0.090 cm−1. Bricks without heavy mineral addition have the lowest LAC values at all energies, ranging from 21.540 cm−1 to 0.068 cm−1, while bricks with 30 wt% heavy minerals have the highest LAC. The half-value layer (HVL) values decreased gradually with increasing the mineral ratio in the fabricated bricks. The thinner brick HVL achieved for the sample N 30 with 30 wt % heavy mineral, growing from 0.017 to 7.675 cm. The effective atomic number (Zeff) was reported, and we found that the minimum Zeff values equal to 14.006, 14.865, 15.705, and 16.394 for bricks N 0, N 10, N 20, N 30, respectively.

Five glass samples with the composition of 20CdO–10SrO–(70 − x) B2O3–xMoO3, where x = 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 mol%, were analyzed for their radiation shielding properties. The study seeks to observe the effect of increasing the concentration of MoO3 on gamma photon shielding features. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) of the fabricated glasses was measured experimentally at five different gamma-ray energies 0.662, 0.184, 0.28, 0.71, and 0.81 MeV. Moreover, the LAC's experimental results of all fabricated glass samples were compared with the Monte Carlo simulation code (MCNP-5) and XCOM program. The measured data and those obtained theoretically using the MCNP-5 code and XCOM program showed strong compatibility. Various parameters were analyzed to determine the glasses' viability as radiation shields, including mass attenuation coefficient, linear attenuation coefficient, radiation protection efficiency, transmission factor, half-value layer, and mean free path. The data were recorded and plotted, and it was determined that the glass coded as MB20 is the most efficient radiation shield out of the investigated samples. The experimental measurements depict that the highest LAC obtained at gamma photon energy 0.184 MeV decreased in the range between 0.557 and 0.894 cm−1, while the lowest obtained at 0.81 MeV and decreased from 0.218 to 0.38 cm−1 for the investigated glass samples MB0 and MB20, respectively.

In this work, five glass samples with a composition (80 − x) B2O3–10ZnO–10CdO–x BaO, where (x = 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 mol%), were fabricated by a standard melt-quench method. The current glass composition structure was explored via Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). XRD pattern proves an absence of sharp peaks, affirming the amorphous nature of the prepared samples. FTIR spectrum within the range of 1650–400 cm−1 clarifies the functional groups’ existence and the variation in BO3 and BO4 with the addition of BaO. The obtained results show a direct relationship between the density and the BaO contents. In contrast, the relation between the BaO and Poisson’s ratio and packing density is inverse. The supplement of BaO to the glass system gradually drove to a slight reduction in glass stability. Furthermore, the mass attenuation coefficient (μ/ρ) was defined experimentally by using two sources (137Cs and 166Ho) with five energies (0.184, 0.280, 0.661, 0.710, and 0.810 MeV). This range of energy can be used in nuclear medicine fields. The excellent agreement between experimental and XCOM values is evident. Based on the experimental results, several radiation shielding properties, including linear attenuation coefficient, effective atomic number (Zeff), half-value layer, mean free path, and tenth value layer, were computed. The results indicate that the sample G5 has a superior photon shielding competence compared with other standard shielding materials. Lastly, it can conclude that the prepared glasses may be used in different sectors as a radiation shielding material.

In this study, a series of Li2O-Al2O3-B2O3 glasses doped with various concentrations of Dy2O3 (where x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 mol%) were prepared by using a conventional melt-quenching technique. The structural, physical and optical properties of the glasses were examined by utilising a variety of techniques instance, X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV&ndash, Vis-NIR spectrometer, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and photoluminescence (PL). The XRD spectra demonstrate the amorphous phase of all glasses. Furthermore, the UV-vis-NIR spectrometers have registered optical absorption spectra a numbers of peaks which exist at 1703, 1271, 1095, 902, 841, 802, 669, 458, 393 and 352 nm congruous to the transitions from the ground of state (6H15/2) to different excited states, 6H11/2, 6F11/2 + 6H9/2, 6F9/2 + 6H7/2, 6F7/2, 6F5/2, 6F3/2, 4F9/2, 4I15/2, 4F7/2 and 6P7/2, respectively. The spectra of emission exhibit two strong emanation bands at 481 nm and 575 nm in the visible region, which correspond to the transitions 4F9/2 &rarr, 6H15/2 and 4F9/2 &rarr, 6H13/2. All prepared glass samples doped with Dy2O3 show an increase in the emission intensity with an increase in the concentration of Dy3+. Based on the obtained results, the aforementioned glass samples may have possible applications, such as optical sensor and laser applications.

The glassy systems acquired much concern for using in diverse implementations. For this cause, different concentrations of samarium oxide co-doped lithium magnesium borate erbium oxide were prepared by the melt-quench technique. Several physical and optical properties of all prepared glass samples were computed. XRD patterns for all prepared samples show the presence of a broad peak and the lack of sharp peaks emphasize the amorphous nature of all prepared glass samples. FTIR confirms the presence of the functional group BO3 and BO4. Ten considerable absorption bands are evident in the UV–Vis–NIR spectra of the S0 glass sample which are attributed to the presence of Er3+ ions. S1–S4 samples revealed additional six peaks that are attributed to Sm3+ ions. In addition, photon and neutron shielding features were evaluated for all prepared samples which enhanced by the increment of Sm3+ contents. In conclusion, the studied glass composition can be useful in several applications such as solid-state laser, telecommunication, and radiation shielding.

The influence of different Nd2O3 doping contents on the physical and optical properties of the glasses was evaluated. XRD patterns of the as-quenched samples confirmed their glassy nature. Density, ion concentration and field strength increases with the addition of Nd2O3 content, respectively. The absorption spectrum of the glasses exhibit intense peaks at approximately 580, 744 and 800 nm corresponding to the electronic transitions in Nd3+. With increasing Nd2O3 contents, the refractive indices of the glasses were increased from 2.363 to 2.415. FTIR spectra revealed the presence of BO4 and BO3 structural units in the glasses. Emission spectrum of glasses (at 300 nm excitation) displayed four prominent peaks at 368, 421, 483 and 514 nm due to the electronic transition in Nd3+from 4I9/2 to 4P3/2, 2P11/2, 2G11/2, 2G9/2, 4G11/2, and 4G9/2, respectively. The proposed glass system were highly sensitive to the Nd2O3 contents changes.

The current paper illustrates glow curve analysis of newly developed Borate glass dosimeters. A series of dosimetric properties including dose response for photons and electrons, energy response, optical fading, and precision were determined. Glow curve deconvolution based on the general order kinetics equation was applied to extract the trapping parameters. Excellent fitting was obtained with the superposition of three-second order glow peaks. The quality of fitting was monitored through the r2 value which is always in excess of 0.9998. Thermoluminescence (TL) measurements showed that the material exhibits good linear dose–response over the delivered range of absorbed dose from 0.5 to 4 Gy for photons and electrons irradiation with low energy dependence. The material exhibits large signal loss when exposed to direct sunlight and moderate signal loss when exposed to fluorescent light. Therefore, it is recommended to use the current dosimeters indoor and to avoid prolonged direct exposure to fluorescent light. This combination of properties makes the material suitable for radiation dosimetry. Keywords: Dosimeter, Analysis, Boron

This research aims to discover the impact of the tellurium oxide on structural, physical, optical and radiation shielding properties of borate glass samples modified with BaO and MoO3. The amorphous nature of each glass sample was proven by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) was utilized to recognize the functional groups for TeO2 and B2O3. The results exhibit that the rise of TeO2 ratio raises the density of glasses and decreases their bandgap. On the other hand, the sample BTM3 shows the highest durability results. Moreover, the radiation shielding features were studied for the fabricated glasses by determining the mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) and other related factors. The effect of both B2O3 and TeO2 on the attenuation performance of the fabricated specimens was discussed. The MAC results show that when we replace the B2O3 with TeO2, the MAC increases, which means that the TeO2 leads to enhancement in the shielding competence of these glasses. At 15 keV, the MAC is 22.39 cm2 g−1 for the free TeO2 sample, while it is increased to 42.15 cm2 g−1 for the glass with 70 mol% of TeO2. In addition, when the density changes from 3.4446 to 5.5057 g cm−3, the LAC enhances and changes from 77.14 to 232.05 cm−1 at 15 keV, from 16.81 to 51.81 cm−1 at 50 keV, from 0.309 to 0.511 cm−1 at 0.5 MeV and from 0.096 to 0.211 cm−1 at 15 MeV. The results in this work showed that the current glass samples exhibit good stability that nominates the fabricated samples for different applications.

The widely use of ionizing radiation encouraged researchers to find new shielding materials. This work aims to fabricate a new series of boro-tellurite glass modified with strontium oxide, barium oxide, and different concentrations of molybdenum oxide for ability use as a radiation shielding substance. The durability and optical properties were explored for the current glass series. At the same time, the shielding properties were investigated experimentally by using two radiation sources (Ho166: 0.184, 0.280, 0.710, 0.810 MeV, and Cs137: 0.662 MeV). The sample containing 10 mol% of molybdenum oxides displayed the lowest dissolving rate (highest durability). The bandgap values reduced gradually with the addition of molybdenum oxide. On another side, the sample TeBM15 has superior shielding properties due to adding molybdenum oxide instead of boron oxide. It can be concluded that the present samples can be used in the radiation shielding field.

Photon, proton, neutron and alpha shielding features of 10TiO2–10SiO2-(80-x)B2O3-xBaO were studied. This study exhibits several photon shielding parameters such as mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), half-value layer (HVL), effective atomic number (Zeff), effective electron density (Neff), gamma dose rate (R/h), specific gamma-ray constant (Γ), and the specific absorbed fraction of the energy (SAFE). The effective removal cross-section of the fast neutron (ΣR), scattering length of the constituent elements, mass stopping power (MSP), and projected range variation parameters were used to explore the particle shielding features. Moreover, the MAC was determined by using Geant4 simulation and compared with the results of the Phy-X program. The percentage error (Δ) was less than 2% for all results, which revealed the agreement between Geant4 simulation and Phy-X program. Although, the addendum of barium oxide (BaO) led to improving the performance of MAC, HVL, Zeff, Neff, and Γ. The ΣR, MSP and projected range variation showed a progressive reduction with incorporation BaO. Lastly, the BaO and SiO2 played an amazing role in enhancement the durability for the glass sample, and the S4 sample exhibits the highest durability compared with other samples. From the obtained results, it can be concluded that the present glass samples can be used in the radiation-shielding field.

In this work, ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene reinforced with Tungsten trioxide WO3 composite was synthesized. The SEM explores the morphological characteristics for current samples, and the obtained results show the homogenous disperse for WO3 particles in the UHMWPE matrix with little tendency of agglomerations. EDX profiles appear the increment of W (Tungsten) peak with increasing WO3 concentrations. While the XRD results show the same structure phase for all samples, but the addition of WO3 shows slight shifting in prominent peaks at 21 degrees and 24 degrees. The Raman spectrum exhibits four additional peaks for a sample containing 5 mol% of WO3 that affirms the existence of WO3 in this sample only. On another side, the 241Am/Be source, GEANT4, and Phy-X program were utilized to determine the neutron shielding features. Furthermore, the proton shielding properties were evaluated. Lastly, it was concluded that the prepared polyethylene could be utilized for neutron shielding applications.

A series of borate glass (80-y)B2O3-10ZnO-10CdO-yBaO, where 10 ≤ y ≤ 30, was synthesized by the melt quench method. The durability and optical features were explored to study the structural features. The sample S2 appears the highest durability than other samples. Several optical parameters were determined, such as bandgap, refractive index, reflection loss, metallization, and cutoff wavelength; these parameters show a good relationship with durability. Moreover, comprehensive radiation shielding properties, including gamma, neutron, and proton, were computed theoretically. The mass attenuation coefficient (MAC)theoretical was defined by using the XCOM program, the (MAC)theoretical was compared with MCNP values, and the acquired results show excellent compatibility. The sample S5 gives the best sheilding properties for gamma and proton radiations. While, S1 sample provides the highest neutron shielding features. Finally, it can be concluded that the fabricated glass samples can be used as a shielding substance for proton, neutron, and gamma-ray.

Lithium magnesium borate (LMB) glass system co-doped with the oxides of dysprosium (Dy2O3) and phosphorus (P2O5) were synthesized using melt-quenching method. Prepared samples were characterized using various techniques to determine the effects of co-dopants concentration variation on their thermoluminescence (TL) and photoluminescence (PL) properties. TL glow curves of LMB:0.5Dy sample revealed a single prominent peak at Tm=190 °C, where TL intensity was enhanced by a factor of 2.5 with the increase of P2O5 concentration up to 1 mol%. This enhancement was accompanied by a shift in Tm towards higher temperature. Good linearity in the range of 1–100 Gy with linear correlation coefficient of 0.998 was achieved. PL spectra displayed two significant peaks centred at 481 nm and 573 nm. These attractive luminescence features of the proposed glass system may be useful for the development of radiation dosimetry.

The increased demand for computed tomography (CT) in radiological scanning examinations raises the question of a potential health impact from the associated radiation exposures. Focusing on CT kidney-ureter-bladder (CT-KUB) procedures, this work was aimed at determining organ equivalent dose using a commercial CT dose calculator and providing an estimate of cancer risks. The study, which included 64 patients (32 males and 32 females, mean age 55.5 years and age range 30–80 years), involved use of a calibrated CT scanner (Siemens-Somatom Emotion 16-slice). The CT exposures parameter including tube potential, pitch factor, tube current, volume CT dose index (CTDIvol) and dose-length product (DLP) were recorded and analyzed using CT-EXPO (Version 2.3.1, Germany). Patient organ doses, including for stomach, liver, colon, bladder, red bone marrow, prostate and ovaries were calculated and converted into cancer risks using age- and sex-specific data published in the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) VII report. With a median value scan range of 36.1 cm, the CTDIvol, DLP, and effective dose were found to be 10.7 mGy, 390.3 mGy cm and 6.2 mSv, respectively. The mean cancer risks for males and females were estimated to be respectively 25 and 46 out of 100,000 procedures with effective doses between 4.2 mSv and 10.1 mSv. Given the increased cancer risks from current CT-KUB procedures compared to conventional examinations, we propose that the low dose protocols for unenhanced CT procedures be taken into consideration before establishing imaging protocols for CT-KUB.

Lithium borate (LB) glasses doped with dysprosium oxide (Dy2 O3 ) have been prepared by utilizing the conventional melt-quench technique. The prepared glass samples were exposed to 60 Co to check their dosimetric features and kinetic parameters. These features involve glow curves, annealing, fading, reproducibility, minimum detectable dose (MDD), and effective atomic number (Zeff ). Kinetic parameters including the frequency factors and activation energy were also determined using three methods (glow curve analysis, initial rise, and peak shape method) and were thoroughly interpreted. In addition, the incorporation of Dy impurities into LB enhanced the thermoluminescence sensitivity ~170 times. The glow from LB:Dy appeared as a single prominent peak at 190°C. The best annealing proceeding was obtained at 300°C for 30 min. Signal stability was reported for a period of 1 and 3 months with a reduction of 26% and 31%, respectively. The proposed glass samples showed promising dosimeter properties that can be recommended for personal radiation monitoring.

Glass gained much attention to be utilized in various applications, for this reason different kinds of glass compositions was the subject of investigation. In this work, we successfully fabricated a series of tellurite–germanate glasses with a composition of (70-x)TeO2–10GeO2–10ZnO–10Li2O–xBi2O3, where x = 0, 5, 10 and 15 (all in mol%). Ordinary melt-quenching was used to synthesize the mentioned glass series with 975 °C as a melting temperature for 30 min and 300 °C for annealing to release the internal stress. To study the structural properties of these glasses, X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to confirm the glassy structure of these glasses. Regarding that, XRD profiles were recorded in ranges between 10° and 80° for all samples. Moreover, FTIR was employed to study the functional groups of all elements, which were used in the composition with the range of 4000–400 cm−1. Optical absorption was used to investigate the cutoff wavelength and optical band gap. Optical absorption was measured at the range of 200–800 nm. The variation of the attenuation properties for the tested tellurite–germanate glasses has been investigated using WinXcom software for photon energy ranges between 0.015 and 15 MeV. The examined attenuation properties include linear and mass attenuation coefficients, half value layer and mean free path, and effective atomic number of the radiation shielding glass. The present results suggest the utilization of the new prepared glass samples in radiation shielding applications.

In the present study, series of 20BaO-10SrO-30TeO2-(40-x)B2O3-xMoO3 where (x= 0, 5, 10, & 15 mol%) was synthesized via standard melt quench technique. The XRD results affirm the amorphous nature for all glasses, while the FTIR confirms the functional group's existence for TeO2 and B2O3. Various parameters were calculated to define the physical features of the glass samples, like molar volume, density, packing density, Poisson's ratio, oxygen packing density, and oxygen molar volume. The shielding features like mass attenuation coefficient, mean free path, equivalent atomic number, half-value layer, and tenth value layer, specific gamma-ray, gamma dose rate, the specific absorbed fraction of the energy, gamma transmission factor, removal cross-section for fas neutron ( ∑ R ) were computed and determined theoretically by using Phy-X. The addition of MoO3 instead of B2O3 in glass samples improves all the structural and shielding features, indicating that glass materials can be used as a good radiation shielding absorber.

This study aims to explore the photon, neutron, and proton shielding features of FexSe0.5Te0.5 alloys with different iron concentrations; 0.95 ≤ x ≤ 1.05. The X-ray diffraction revealed that the prepared samples have the PbO-tetragonal structure. SRIM code and Phy-X program were used to determine various ionizing radiation shielding features. The alloys density, mass attenuation coefficient, and the removal cross-section for fast neutrons showed a progressive reduction with increasing iron contents. While the mass stopping power and projected range values increased with the addition of iron contents. The Fe0·95Se0·5Te0.5 sample has the maximum density and appeared to have superior photons, neutrons, and protons shielding features. The obtained results nominate the present alloys to be used in ionizing radiation shielding applications.

Dysprosium (Dy) doped lithium borate glass (LBG) is prepared using conventional melting-quenching technique with varying Dy concentration in the range of 0 to 1.0 mol%. Prepared glass samples are characterized via X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), UV–vis–IR, Photoluminescence (PL), Thermoluminescence (TL) spectroscopy and Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA). The physical parameters such as the density, optical energy band gap, oscillator strength, refractive index, ion concentration, Polaron radius, molar volume and inter-nuclear distance are determined. UV–vis–IR spectra revealed seven prominent bands centered at 448, 749, 796, 899, 1085, 1265 and 1679 nm corresponding to the transition from the Dy 3+ ion׳s ground state ( 6 H 15/2 ) to the excited states ( 4 I 15/2 , 6 F 3/2 , 6 F 5/2 , 6 H 5/2 , 6 F 9/2 , 6 H 9/2 and 6 H 11/2 ). The room temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra of the glass series at 350 nm excitation displayed two peaks centered at 481 nm and 573 nm, which are assigned to the transitions of ( 4 F 9/2 → 6 H 15/2 ) and ( 4 F 9/2 → 6 H 13/2 ), respectively. The TL spectra of gamma-irradiated samples are measured, which showed Dy 3+ content dependent simple glow peak at 190 °C. Dysprosium ion is found to play an important role in the TL and PL intensity enhancement of LB phosphor.

The current study explores the effect of BaO content on the shielding, optical, structural, and physical features of 10TiO2–10SiO2-(80-x)B2O3-xBaO (10 ≤ x ≤ 30) glass samples for their ability to be used as radiation shielding substances. X-ray diffraction spectra affirmed the amorphous state for all prepared samples. A series of physical parameters confirm the stability of the prepared glasses. The optical properties confirm the forming of non-bridging oxygens and these results are in line with the physical and structural properties and FTIR results. Regarding the shielding properties, the mass attenuation coefficient was measured experimentally and compared with the compatible values obtained from the XCOM program. Furthermore, other photon shielding properties, such as radiation protection efficiency, mean free path, exposure buildup factor, and energy absorption buildup factor, were calculated within the energy range of 15 keV-15 MeV. It was determined that this glass composition is suitable for photon radiation shielding applications.

In this article, high dense glasses based heavy metal former and modifier have been synthesized. The glass system with composition formula of (60-x)TeO2–10GeO2 -20ZnO–10BaO - xBi2O3 (where x = 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 mol. %). The glasses have been produced using the usual melt, quenching, and annealing process. Many physical features were investigated. To confirm the amorphous nature of theses glasses, we examined the samples with X-ray diffraction in the range of between 10° and 80°. Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) transmission spectrum for the current glass samples within the range of 400–1500 cm−1 has been recorded to study the behavior of the obtained glasses that is mixed between tellurium and germanium glass phase. To study the transparency and cut-off wavelength and other optical properties, Ultraviolet–Visible spectrometer (UV–Vis) was utilized between 200 and 800 nm. Radiation shielding ability of the (60-x) TeO2–10GeO2-20ZnO–10BaO-xBi2O3 glasses was examined. Monte Carlo simulation method was applied to estimate the shielding parameters for gamma photons with various energies varied in rang from 0.015 to 15 MeV.

Germanate-tellurite glasses with a composition of (75-x) TeO2-xGeO2–12.5ZnO-12.5BaO, where x = 0, 5, 10, and 20 mol%, were synthesized. A traditional melt-quenching-annealing process was used to fabricate these glasses, at 1000 °C for melting and 300 °C for five hours for annealing. X-ray diffraction was used to investigate the structural features of each sample between 10 °C and 80 °C to prove the amorphous nature of these glasses. Moreover, Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) was employed to explore the functional groups of Te, Ge, and other elements. To study the transparency, cut-off wavelength, and other optical properties of the glasses, such as indirect, direct, and Urbach energy band gaps, optical absorption was measured in the range of 200–800 nm. Additionally, the radiation shielding properties for the germanium based-tellurite glasses were calculated using Monte Carlo N particle transport code (MCNP-5). The simulated results were compared with XCOM software and the results between the two methods closely agreed. The maximum mass attenuation coefficient varied between 47.305 and 50.620 cm2.g − 1 for TG1 and TG4 glasses respectively at 0.015 MeV. The effective atomic number (Zeff) for the prepared germanium based-tellurite glasses was evaluated and the results revealed that the maximum Zeff values were found at 0.04 MeV, varying between 48.24 and 49.98 for TG4 and TG1.

In this work, a series of tellurite glass combined with various concentrations of germanium oxide was fabricated according to the formula of (70-x)TeO2-xGeO2–20ZnO-10Li2O where x = 5, 10, 15 and 20 mol% via utilizing the melt-quench method for possible use in a radiation shielding applications. X-ray diffraction and Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared was employed to investigate the structure of the synthesized glasses. The density and Poisson's ratio for current samples reduced gradually from 5.221–5.008 g.cm−3 and 0.134–0.131, respectively, while the enhancement in bandgap values from 3.700–3.872 eV with addition of GeO2 is observed. The linear attenuation coefficient values at 0.015 MeV are 230.123 and 236.832 cm−1 for samples TG1 and TG4, respectively. Moreover, the lowest half-value layer attained via TG1 and raises from 0.0030 to 3.6684 cm while the highest HVL attained by TG4 and raises from 0.0029 to 3.9696 cm.

This paper focuses on the role of antimony oxide (up to 15 wt%) in the physical, structural, optical, and radiation attenuating characteristics of boro-bismuth glasses within B2O3-20Bi2O3- 20Na2O2- Sb2O3 system. This glass system was prepared by melting at 1250°C and quenching into water. The physical properties were studied by measuring the density, molar volume, and x-ray diffraction for the prepared glass system. The structural features were investigated by determining packing density, passion ratio, oxygen packing density, and oxygen molar volume. The optical attributes were explored by evaluating bandgap, Urbach energy, refractive index, and other related parameters such as dielectric constant, reflection loss, molar polarizability, molar refractivity, optical dielectric constant, optical electronegativity, electron polarizability, optical basicity, metallization, and cut-off wavelength. On the other hand, the shielding properties of the prepared glasses were studied against different types of radiation such as gamma, electron, proton, and neutron beams. The radiation studies were carried out by utilizing Geant4 simulations and the newly developed Phy-X/PSD program. The radiation-shielding characteristics of the present samples were examined in terms of mass attenuation coefficient, stopping power, half value layer, removal cross section, mean free path, and effective atomic number of gamma, electron, and proton beams. The results showed that antimony oxide content had an important influence on the shielding ability against all of the types of radiations. Additionally, the obtained results were compared with those of standard radiation shields. It can be concluded that the present glasses have a promising future to be used as radiation shielding material, wherein the antimony oxide concentration can be balanced according to the desired application.

The study illustrates the impact of barium oxide (BaO) on structural, physical, optical, and radiation shielding features of a series of multi-component of barium-containing borate-based glasses, namely Sodium Zinc Borate Glass. The amorphous nature of each glass material was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Fourier-Transform-Infrared (FTIR) was used to identify the BO3-BO4 distribution and how the variation of Ba-concentrations affects this distribution. The results show that the increase of barium content increases the density of glasses and, in turn, reduces their bandgap. The investigation of the shielding properties at different energies (0.01–10 MeV) by Phy-X program indicates that the high-density of Ba-30 exhibited the best performance in terms of attenuation factor. On the other hand, the samples Ba-0 and Ba-15 show the highest durability results (lowest dissolving rate). These outcomes indicate that the glass samples exhibited promising radiation shielding properties for different applications.

We explore a new glassy material for radiation shielding applications. Novel transparent and non-toxic Bi2O3–B2O3 glasses including different concentrations of CdO were prepared by the conventional melt quenching method. The prepared samples were characterized and analyzed by using various analytical tools (XRD, FTIR, Raman, DSC, and UV-Vis-NIR). Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations were carried out to create structural models of the materials, and these were compared to our measurements. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to compare the vibrations obtained experimentally with the vibrational density of states obtained from an ab initio computer model for these materials. The radiation shielding properties were measured for the photon energy range (10−3–105 MeV): both mass attenuation coefficient (μ/p) and effective atomic number (Zeff) showed a gradual increase with an increase in the CdO content. The mean-free-path, tenth value layer, half-value layer, and electron density for all prepared glasses were estimated. Promising results were achieved with the new glasses for radiation shielding purposes such as nuclear reactor and medical applications. The structural, electronic, and vibrational properties of the computer models revealed a topologically disordered, but chemically ordered network, and our vibrational computations provide direct insight into several Raman peaks observed for the materials.

In this work, five samples of high-density polyethylene have been made by varying bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) concentration 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 wt%. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) has been used to analysis of the samples to point out the changes in the surface morphology. Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) has been performed for evaluating chemical composition of the prepared samples. X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra of the pure Bi2O3, pure high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and HDPE with different amount of Bi2O3 have been investigated. Additionally, the Raman spectroscopy of all synthesized polymer matrix were measured to explore the different molecular groups. Finally, the mass attenuation coefficients μ/ρ for the samples have been measured using narrow beam of gamma-ray at eight energies between from 30.8 to 383.8 keV. The effect of the photon energy and the addition of Bi2O3 on the gamma-ray shielding ability of the prepared sample have been discussed. In conclusion, the prepared samples showed good attenuation properties.

In the present work, we fabricated a series of six glasses to be utilized in the field of radiation shielding application. Glasses have been synthesized using a melt-quenching ordinary technique. In this work, we investigated the structural properties of these glasses using Raman spectroscopy. Moreover, optical properties have been studied in the present work. The radiation attenuation ability for the present samples was also investigated and measured using transmission geometry between 81 and 964.1 keV. The mass attenuation coefficient was measured and the results were validated by the WinXcom program. Also, radiation protection efficiency (RPE) was evaluated and discussed in terms of photon energy and Bi2O3 concentration. From RPE curve, we found that the fabricated glasses can be used as effective shielding materials especially for the low energies (81–383 keV). The half value layer also was calculated and the results of this parameter showed that S6 (contains 60 mol% of Bi2O3) has the higher probability of the interaction with gamma photons, leading to less number of photons transmitted this sample and thus better photon attenuator.

In order to investigate new candidate glasses for gamma shielding application, we synthesized a number of glasses with composition of (50+x)Bi2O3-(30-x)B2O3-10ZnO-5BaO-5Li2O where x = 10, 15 and 20, all in mol%. We used the conventional melt-quenching-annealing technique with melting temperature at 975 °C and 300 °C for 30 min and 5 h, respectively. Density and other important physical properties have been measured and calculated using related methods and formulas. Moreover, X-ray diffraction have been utilized for all samples to explore the structure of these glasses, the XRD profile have been recorded between 10° to 80° for all samples, while the functional groups of the elements evolved in these glasses have been studied using FTIR with the range of 4000–400 cm−1. Additionally, optical absorption for the synthesized glasses have been measured in the range of 200–800 nm to investigate the cut-off wavelength and optical band gap. Besides, the mass attenuation coefficient values of the present glasses have been estimated through WinXCom software as well as MCNPX computer code and the obtained results were used to determine the effective atomic number (Zeff), the half value layer (HVL) and the mean free path (MFP). From the derived results, it was found that S3 is the superior glass sample in terms of shielding performance on account of larger Zeff values and lower MFP/HVL values among the investigated glasses. The present glasses indicate potentiality to be evaluated as shielding absorbers and for an improved shielding effectiveness of the Bi2O3-B2O3-ZnO-BaO-Li2O glasses, a large Bi2O3 concentration would be required.

Tuning the optical response of lithium magnesium borate glass via controlled doping of rare earth ions is the key issue in photonic devices. Glasses with composition 30Li 2 O–(60− x )B 2 O 3 –10MgO- x Er 2 O 3 , where 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 are prepared by conventional melt-quenching technique. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern confirms the amorphous nature of all samples. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra reveal the presence of BO 3 and BO 4 local structure unit. The physical parameters, such as the direct and indirect optical energy band gap, oscillator strength, refractive index, ion concentration, Polaron radius, molar volume and inter-nuclear distance are calculated and analyzed. The room temperature UV–vis–IR spectra comprised of ten absorption bands centered at 1523, 973, 796, 650, 550, 522, 486, 447, 406, 373 nm corresponding to the transitions from the ground state to 4 I 13/2 , 4 I 11/2 , 4 I 9/2 , 4 F 9/2 , 4 S 3/2 , 2 H 11/2 , 4 F 7/2 , ( 4 F 5/2 + 4 F 3/2 ), 2 G(1) 9/2 , 4 G 11/2 excited states, respectively. The peak evidenced at 522 nm is due to hypersensitive transition. The up-conversion spectra exhibits three emission peaks centered at 509, 547 and 656 nm. All the emission bands (green and red) at 0.5 mol% of Er 3+ shows a significant enhancement in the intensity attributed to the energy transfer from Mg 2+ to the Er 3+ ion. Our results suggest that these glasses can be nominated for solid state lasers.

Enhancing the luminescence characteristics of rare earth doped borate glasses is the key issue in achieving an accurate dosimeter. Series of lithium and magnesium oxide modified borate glasses of compositions 20Li2O–(70−x)B2O3–10MgO–xDy2O3, where 0.3≤x≤1 mol% are prepared using melt-quenching method. Synthesized samples are further activated with different concentration of Dy3+ and subjected to different doses by using a 60Co source. Effects of Dy3+ concentrations on luminescence behavior are examined. XRD patterns confirm the amorphous nature of all samples. A simple glow curve exhibits a peak at 190 °C and optimum intensity for 0.5 mol% of Dy3+ ions. Thermoluminescence (TL) properties including dose response and effective atomic number are determined. A good linearity in the dose response with correlation coefficient ~0.9977 and a tissue equivalent Zeff~8.71 is achieved. The room temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra of these glasses under 350 nm laser excitations reveal two enhanced peaks centered at 480 nm (blue) and 573 nm (yellow). The mechanism for the TL and PL enhancements are discussed and understood. These attractive luminescence features of prepared glasses may contribute towards the advancement of dosimetry.

UNLABELLED Influence of Nd(3+) concentration on the optical and thermoluminescence (TL) properties of melt-annealed synthesized 10 Na2O: 20 Li2O: (70-x) B2O3 : xNd2O3, where 0.1≤ x ≤0.7 (LNB) glasses are determined. The absence of sharp peaks in X-ray diffraction patterns confirms the amorphous nature of the prepared glasses. The photoluminescence spectra under 800 nm laser excitations at room temperature exhibit three prominent peaks centred at 538, 603 and 675 nm corresponding to the transitions of (4)G(7/2) → (4)I(9/2), [(4)G(7/2) → (4)I(11/2), (4)G(5/2) → (4)I(9/2)] and [(4)G(7/2) → (4)I(13/2), (4)G(5/2) → (4)I(11/2)], respectively. The TL glow curve exhibits a prominent peak (T(m)) at 180°C. The best performance of the prepared glass was found at 0.5 mol% of Nd2O3. We achieved a good linearity of TL response against dose between 0.5 to 4.0 Gy. The calculated value of the effective atomic number, Z(eff), is 7.55 which is nearly tissue equivalent (Z(eff) = 7.42). These promising features demonstrate the capability of the aforementioned glass to be used as a radiation dosimeter. HIGHLIGHTS The thermoluminescence and optical properties of new compositions of lithium sodium borate glasses doped with Nd(3+) ions were reported. Attractive features were obtained from the TL, PL and UV-Vis light analysis. Three upconversion luminescences permitting green, orange and red emissions were observed.

We report the impact of dysprosium (Dy(3+)) dopant and magnesium oxide (MgO) modifier on the thermoluminescent properties of lithium borate (LB) glass via two procedures. The thermoluminescence (TL) glow curves reveal a single prominent peak at 190 °C for 0.5 mol% of Dy(3+). An increase in MgO contents by 10 mol% enhances the TL intensity by a factor of 1.5 times without causing any shift in the maximum temperature. This enhancement is attributed to the occurrence of extra electron traps created via magnesium and the energy transfer to trivalent Dy(3+) ions. Good linearity in the range of 0.01-4 Gy with a linear correlation coefficient of 0.998, fading as low as 21% over a period of 3 months, excellent reproducibility without oven annealing and tissue equivalent effective atomic numbers ~8.71 are achieved. The trap parameters, including geometric factor (μg), activation energy (E) and frequency factor (s) associated with LMB:Dy are also determined. These favorable TL characteristics of prepared glasses may contribute towards the development of Li2O-MgO-B2O3 radiation dosimeters.