Investigation of the physical properties and gamma-ray shielding capability of borate glasses containing PbO, Al2O3 and Na2O

Six glass samples of new lead borate with chemical formula 5Al(2)O(3)-5Na(2)O-(90-x)B2O3-xPbO, where 0 <= x <= 50 mol% have been synthesized using the melt quenching technique. The prepared glasses distinguished by codes as x = 0 (ANBP00)-x = 50 (ANBP50) mol%. The physical properties and gamma-ray shielding capability of the glasses have been investigated. To achieve these aims, the amorphous structure of all glasses was examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. The density and molar volume have been calculated. Density of the glasses increases from 2.133 (g/cm(3)) for ANBP00 glass sample to 5.010 (g/cm(3)) for ANBP50 sample. The XMuDat and XCOM programs were used to calculate the mass attenuation coefficient (mu/rho) in the photon energy range of 0.015-10 MeV for all glasses. The difference between the obtained values of XMuDat and XCOM is found to be less than 1%. Half value layer (HVL), effective atomic number (Z(eff)), and mean free path (MFP) as gamma-ray shielding features have been evaluated using values of the (mu/rho) for all proposed glasses. Results reveal that ANBP50 and ANBP00 samples possess a maximum Z(eff) and a minimum Z(eff), respectively. Indeed, ANBP50 glass has lowest values of (HVL) and (MFP). Therefore, addition of PbO content in the prepared glasses has a considerable effect to improve the shielding effectiveness for these glasses. Finally, ANBP50 glass can be considered as a promising candidate for gamma-ray protection applications among different types of concretes, commercial glasses, and HMO glasses.