Investigation of barium borate glasses for radiation shielding applications

In this paper, five barium borate glasses in the chemical composition of $$40\hbox {SiO}_2$$–$$10\hbox {B}_2\hbox {O}_3$$–xBaO–(45-x)CaO–yZnO–zMgO (where $$x = 0, 10, 20, 30$$, and 35 mol$${y}=z=6\,\hbox { mol}\%$$) have been reported for radiation protection applications. Mass attenuation coefficient ($$\mu /\rho$$) was obtained in the photon energy range of 356 keV–2.51 MeV using PHITS code for the proposed glasses. The $$\mu /\rho$$ values generated by PHITS code were verified by using both of FLUKA code and XCOM program. The $$\mu /\rho$$ values were then applied to derive effective atomic number ($${Z}_\mathrm{eff}$$), mean free path (MFP), and half value layer (HVL) for all the glasses involved. Additionally, the fast neutron removal cross sections were calculated for each glass. The results reveal that gamma-shielding properties evolve upon adding BaO content in the glasses. It is found that SBC-B35 glass has superior shielding capacity against gamma rays and fast neutrons as compared with different conventional shielding materials and commercial glasses.