Gamma radiation shielding properties of (x)Bi₂O₃–(0.5 – x)ZnO–0.2B₂O₃–0.3SiO₂ glass system

Lead (Pb)-based materials are very effective in radiation shielding due to their high density of Pb. However, they pose health risks to humans because of the toxicity of lead. As a result, the investigation of radiation shielding properties of various lead-free glass materials has drawn a lot of attention from researchers. In this work, the γ radiation competence of the Bi₂O₃–ZnO–B₂O₃–SiO₂ glass network was investigated, for the first time in the 0.015–15 MeV energy range, using Phy-X/PSD and XCOM software systems. The results showed that 45Bi₂O₃–5ZnO–20B₂O₃–30SiO₂ glass sample has the highest linear attenuation coefficient, mass attenuation coefficient, and effective atomic number, and it has the lowest half-value layer, tenth-value layer, and mean-free path. Therefore, 45Bi₂O₃–5ZnO–20B₂O₃–30SiO sample is more effective on γ ray shielding than 10Bi₂O₃–40ZnO–20B₂O₃–30SiO, 20Bi₂O₃–30ZnO–20B₂O₃–30SiO, 30Bi₂O₃–20ZnO–20B₂O₃–30SiO, and 40Bi₂O₃–10ZnO–20B₂O₃–30SiO samples. The comparison of the results with the literature also revealed that the 45Bi₂O₃–5ZnO–20B₂O₃–30SiO glass sample is even more effective than some of Bi₂O₃-based glass systems, which were recently developed in the literature, by at least a factor of 2.