Characterization of copper oxide and cobalt oxide substituted bioactive glasses for gamma and neutron shielding applications

Abstract This paper aimed to explore the neutron and gamma-ray attenuation parameters of ten different bioactive glasses substituted with cobalt oxide (CoO) and copper oxide (CuO). Therefore, gamma-ray attenuation parameters such as effective atomic numbers (Zeff), half value layer (HVL), mean free path (MFP), mass attenuation coefficients (MAC), tenth value layer (TVL), exposure build up factors (EBF) and energy absorption build up factors (EABF) have been determined. The MAC values corresponding to the photon energy (0.015-20 MeV) for selected bioactive glasses are calculated by using WinXcom software. Parameters such as Zeff, TVL, HVL, MFP are calculated by utilizing the calculated MAC values. EBF and EABF are calculated by using the G-P fitting method in relation to penetration depth and the incident photon energy. Moreover, to evaluate the neutron shielding performances of the studied bioactive glasses, neutron effective removal cross sections for fast neutrons (ΣR) are calculated. The results showed that Co-4 sample has best nuclear shielding performance since it has the lowest TVL, HVL, and MFP and highest effective removal cross section value (ΣR) among the investigated bioactive glasses. To conclude, Co-4 bioactive glass outperforming other samples are the most promising bioactive glass when it comes to features of gamma-ray attenuation.