Gamma-ray shielding in BaO-modified borate glasses: experiments and MCNP validation

Abstract This study fabricated a set of glasses in the Barium Borate glass system composed of (77 − x)B 2 O 3 –7MgO–15ZnO–xBaO–1CeO 2 (x = 9, 13, 17, and 21 mol%) via standard melt-quenching to investigate their gamma-ray shielding properties. High-purity raw materials were melted at 1100 °C and were annealed at 350 °C for 4 h. The radiation attenuation properties were measured with a high-purity germanium detector and gamma sources ( 241 Am, 137 Cs, 60 Co) over an energy region from 59.5 keV to 1333 keV. The shielding parameters, defined as linear attenuation coefficient (LAC), half value thickness, equivalent thickness, and radiation protection efficiency (RP E ) were established. At 0.662 MeV, the glasses’ LAC values were 0.245 ± 0.008 cm⁻¹ (BMZCe- 1), 0.262 ± 0.009 cm⁻¹ (BMZCe-2), 0.274 ± 0.009 cm⁻¹ (BMZCe-3), and 0.288 ± 0.010 cm⁻¹ (BMZCe-4) and showed a linear rise in LAC as BaO concentration rose. The experimental data were validated using MCNP-5 Monte Carlo simulations, the experimental data were validated to within ± 8%, providing confidence in the integrity of the measurements. BaO substitution enhanced both density and effective atomic number thereby increasing attenuation efficiency to the highest level for BMZCe-4. It was the best of the samples possessing the largest LAC and RP E values (up to 17.16 ± 0.43% at 1.332 MeV) followed closely by BMZCe-3. The results confirm that BaO-modified borate glasses achieve more than acceptable levels of shielding efficiencies similar to commercial lead glass while maintaining environmental safety, justifying their consideration as sustainable approaches to radiation protection in medical diagnostics and nuclear applications.