Influence of TiO2 content on the radiation shielding properties of the La2O3-B2O3-Gd2O3-Nb2O5-ZrO2-SiO2 glasses

This paper aims to study the radiation shielding properties of lanthanide glasses, according to the formula xTiO₂-51La₂O₃-(24-x) B₂O₃–8Gd₂O₃-8Nb₂O₅-6ZrO₂-3SiO₂ (x= 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, wt.%). Using FLUKA Monte Carlo code, the mass attenuation coefficients (MAC), half-value layers (HVL), and effective atomic numbers (Z_eff) of the lanthanide glasses were estimated at medical diagnostic energies (between 20 and 150 keV). The MACs of the glasses are between 0.5183 and 24.407 cm²/g for 0Ti, 0.5215-24.788 cm²/g for 4Ti, 0.5193-25.161 cm²/g for 8Ti, 0.5163-25.529 cm²/g for 12Ti, and 0.5183-25.916 cm²/g for 16Ti. These results are consistent with the Phy-X theoretical database (with a percentage difference below 3 %). The lanthanide glasses showed good photon shielding ability compared to lead concrete, and RS-360 & RS-253-G18 commercial glasses, commonly used shielding materials. In this work, 16Ti possesses the highest, lowest, and highest values of MAC, HVL, and Z_eff, respectively, at the various energies investigated, which implies that the 16Ti sample has better shielding performance. All in all, this work demonstrated that adding TiO₂ to the glass samples could provide preferable shielding features.