The structural properties of CdO–Bi2O3 borophosphate glass system containing Fe2O3 and its role in attenuating neutrons and gamma rays

A glass system with chemical formula xBi2O3–(30−x)CdO–10B2O3–20Fe2O3–40P2O5 (0≤x≤30) wt% is prepared to be used as radiation shield. The mass attenuation coefficient and half value layer of the glass system to gamma rays have been measured experimentally and compared with those determined from theoretical calculations using the mixture rule of WinXCom program. A database of effective mass removal cross-sections for fast neutrons is also introduced in this work. The obtained results of this study are correlated to the structural properties of these glasses obtained from their IR spectra and the influence of gamma and neutrons irradiation on these structural properties.