Optical and nuclear radiation shielding properties of zinc borate glasses doped with lanthanum oxide

In this study, structure, optical and nuclear radiation shielding behaviors of (50-x)B2O3-30PbO-20ZnO-xLa(2)O(3), (x = 0, 1.5, 3, 4.5, and 6) wt% glasses with various La2O3 concentrations were measured for their nuclear radiation shielding applications. Moreover, UV-visible absorption spectrum and the glass optical parameters were measured. The band gaps of optical energy for direct transition decreased from 3.90 eV for BPZLa1 glass sample to 2.78 eV for BPZLa5 glass, while it decreased from 2.58 eV to 1.83 eV glass for the indirect transition. The mass attenuation coefficient (mu(m)) was experimentally measured using the HPGe spectrometer. The experimental results of shielding parameters were compared with values obtained using the XCOM program and FLUKA simulation code. The nuclear radiation shielding properties such as mu(m), HVL, Zeff, EBF and EABF were calculated for all glasses with various La2O3 concentrations. The results showed that mu(m) and Z(eff) increased as the La2O3 concentration increased. The BPZLa5 glass sample had the minimum HVL, EBF and EABF. The BPZLa5 sample had the largest mu(m), Z(eff).