Structural investigations and nuclear radiation shielding ability of bismuth lithium antimony borate glasses

The current study is aimed to explore the effect of gradual addition of the heavy metal oxide 'Bi2O3' in Li2O-Sb2O3-B2O3 glass system. The glassy nature of the prepared samples was confirmed from X-ray diffraction studies. The change in glass structure due to bismuth oxide addition was probed by Fourier Transform Infrared, Raman and UV-Visible spectroscopic studies. The density of the samples was observed to increase. The durability also improved with Bi2O3 addition. The Gamma-ray shielding properties were studied by narrow beam geometry and XCOM and MCNPX simulation. Exposure buildup factor was studied in the energy region 0.015-15 MeV and also, at energies of Ba-133, Cs-137 and Co-60 isotopes. Phy-X/PSD software was also used for evaluation of exposure buildup factor. Neutron and charged particles shielding ability was also assessed. The studied glass samples were also compared with widely used conventional materials namely barite concrete and commercial RS 360 glass for Gamma-rays and, graphite, polyacrylic acid and ordinary concrete for neutrons for checking the effectiveness of the shielding abilities of the synthesized glass compositions. This study can be useful for shield design in nuclear radiation security applications.