Radiation shielding performance of lead-borate glasses with rare-earth oxides: a comparative analysis

Abstract Lead-borate glasses with Eu, Y, La, or Sm oxides were investigated for their radiation shielding capabilities across a broad range of energies. Due to the glasses’ varying content, each sample had varying densities, with the Sm glass having the highest density and the Y glass having the least. At lower energies, the MAC values followed the Y 2 O 3 < La 2 O 3 < Sm 2 O 3 < Eu 2 O 3 order, while at higher energies the MACs are practically identical. The glasses’ LACs showed an inverse energy relationship, such as those of the Y glass which are 0.946, 0.439, and 0.293 cm −1 at 0.284, 0.511, and 0.826 MeV, respectively. The Z eff of the glasses are in the order of Eu > Sm > La > Y, which corresponds to the relative order of the sample-based additives’ atomic numbers. The RPEs of the glasses revealed the Sm glass to have slightly greater protection efficiency than the Eu glass, while increasing the thickness of the sample greatly improved the shielding effectiveness. The ratio of the reference glass’s HVL to each of a set of compared glasses’ LAC showed that the Sm glass is a viable glass for radiation shielding applications.