Gamma radiation shielding and optical properties measurements of zinc bismuth borate glasses

• 10ZnO:xBi2O3:(90−x)B2O3, (ZBB) glasses were prepared.
• Radiation shielding and optical properties were investigated.
• Higher 25 mol% of Bi2O3 show better shielding property compared with concretes.
• ZBB glasses can develop as a Pb-free radiation shielding material.

In this work, the zinc bismuth borate (ZBB) glasses of the composition 10ZnO:xBi2O3:(90−x)B2O3 (where x = 15, 20, 25 and 30 mol%) were prepared by the melt quenching technique. Their radiation shielding and optical properties were investigated and compared with theoretical calculations. The mass attenuation coefficients of ZBB glasses have been measured at different energies obtained from a Compton scattering technique. The results show a decrease of the mass attenuation coefficient, effective atomic number and effective electron density values with increasing of gamma-ray energies; and good agreements between experimental and theoretical values. The glass samples with Bi2O3 concentrations higher than 25 mol% (25 and 30 mol%) were observed with lower mean free path (MFP) values than all the standard shielding concretes studied. These results are indications that the ZBB glasses in the present study may be developed as a lead-free radiation shielding material in the investigated energy range.