Computational Study of Radiation Shielding Characteristics for Nd+3 Doped Al2O3–Na2O–WO3–B2O3 Borate Glasses

Nd2O3 doped Al2O3–Na2O–WO3–B2O3 glasses which were produced by melt quenching technique was studied for determining their charged particle, neutron and gamma-ray shielding characteristics. In this context, the radiation-attenuating parameters were calculated by the help of PENELOPE, Phy-X/PSD, SRIM and PAGEX codes. The effect of neodymium on the glasses were evaluated and compared comprehensively. The results demonstrated a linear correlation between the shielding efficiencies of charged particles - specifically alpha, electron, proton particles; gamma rays; and neutrons - and the neodymium content present in the samples. The glasses with the higher content of neodymium displayed better protection potential. The order of mass stopping power results of the glasses were found for the charged particles as MSPalpha > MSPprotons > MSPpositrons > MSPelectrons. The glass without Nd composition showed maximal range values for charged particles, whereas the glass with higher Nd composition demonstrated the minimal values. The largest stopping time values were obtained in the following order: Stpositron > Stelectron. The biggest stopping time value was observed for the glass without Nd. The glass with higher Nd exhibits the highest fast neutron attenuation. It can be posited that each of the glasses in question could be employed as shields in various application fields.