Development of transparent radiation shielding window for medical and industrial applications: Barium oxide modification in borosilicate glass matrix

초록

This study explores the influence of barium oxide (BaO) content on the physical, optical, and gamma-ray shielding properties of borosilicate glass. Glass samples containing 0 to 40 mol% BaO were prepared via the melt-quenching technique. Their physical and optical properties were experimentally characterized using the Archimedes' principle for density measurement and transmittance (%T) evaluation. The radiation shielding parameters were evaluated using a combination of experimental measurements, Monte Carlo simulations (PHITS), and theoretical calculations (WinXCom). The shielding properties of the glasses were examined over a wide energy range of 0.015 MeV-15 MeV theoretically and compared with the simulation results. Experimentally, 133Ba, 137Cs, and 60Co were used as standard sources to generate monoenergetic photons covering an energy range of 0.356 MeV to 1.332 MeV. The findings indicate that increasing BaO concentration enhances the density, attenuation values and EABF, particularly at low to intermediate photon energies. The experimental results revealed that the highest radiation shielding performance was observed at the low energy of 0.356 MeV, where the values of mu, Zeff, Neff, HVL, and Pb-equivalent thickness were found to be 0.35 cm-1, 14.94 e-/atom, 3.26 x 1023 e-/g, 1.92 cm, and 0.35 mm, respectively. BaO 20 glass was fabricated into a large-scale transparent glass sheet to demonstrate its feasibility for use as an observation window from outside radiation-controlled rooms, aiming to enhance environmental safety in future applications.

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