Bioactive glasses doped with TiO2 and their potential use in radiation shielding applications

Bioactive glasses are used in many tissue engineering and dentistry applications. The unique properties of these glasses make them promising candidates for many potential applications. In this study, a novel bioactive glass system with the structure of 46P2O5–22Na2O-(24-x) CaO–8ZnO-xTiO2 with x in a range of 0–1 mol% (in steps of 0.2) was assessed for use in radiation protection applications. The mass attenuation coefficients (μ/ρ) of the investigated bioactive glasses were estimated using Geant4 simulation at extended energies of 0.015 MeV–15 MeV. The μ/ρ values were confirmed using theoretical calculations based on XCOM software. The half value layer (HVL), effective atomic number (Zeff), and mean free path (MFP) of the bioactive glasses were computed. The energy absorption and exposure buildup factors (EABF and EBF) were assessed using the G-P method at photon energies of 0.015–15 MeV. The removal cross-section (∑R) of the glasses was estimated. The addition of TiO2 in the bioactive glasses changed the glasses’ radiation protection properties. At 1 MeV, the Zeff values raised from 10.75 for T0 glass to 12.17 for T1 glass. The parameters of the present glasses were observed in the same range as materials used for gamma ray and neutron shielding.